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Soderling beats Stakhovsky at Open 13

Soderling hit 16 aces to Stakhovsky’s 20 and converted his only two break chances while Stakhovsky missed all four of his, all in the second set.

Also, French wild card Guillaume Rufin beat Belgian qualifier Yannick Mertens 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 5 to reach his first quarterfinals on the ATP Tour.

Soderling broke Stakhovsky at 1-1 in the final set and finally won in just under two hours when the Ukrainian sent his backhand return into the net.

Soderling struggled with his serve initially, double-faulting at 5-5 in the tiebreaker to give Stakhovsky a set point that he converted with an ace.

The Swede’s backhand return winner earned a break for 2-0 in the second, and two straight service winners helped level the sets at one set apiece.

The Rotterdam champion will next face Michael Llodra of France while Rufin will play Mischa Zverev of Germany.

The 19-year-old Rufin is one of the most improved players on the circuit, jumping from 1,046^th in the world rankings a year ago to 154^th this week.