Tomas Berdych advances to quarterfinals in Dubai

Third-seeded Tomas Berdych reached the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships on Wednesday, overcoming a gritty challenge from former No. 3-ranked Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Berdych is one of only three seeds left in the tournament, after eighth-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia was upset by Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1. In the other early match, Richard Gasquet of France overcame a 5-2 deficit in the second set to beat Ukrainian qualifier Sergei Bubka 6-2, 7-5.

The seventh-ranked Berdych appeared to be on his way to an easy victory, breaking the Russian to go up 5-1 in the first set. But Davydenko came alive to take two straight games before the Czech closed out the set.

Davydenko, hampered by several missed volleys and errant forehands in the first set, settled down in the second. He had two sets points at 5-4 but Berdych saved the first with an ace and the second when Davydenko overhit a forehand.

Berdych failed to serve out the match after breaking for a 6-5 lead, but won two straight points from 5-5 in the tiebreaker to finally close out the win.

‘It was a quite big test for me,’ Berdych said. ‘Especially against Nikolay, it’s tough because he likes to play fast. He likes to play long rallies, and he’s very solid from the baseline. So it was a very tough match for me.’

Davydenko was dejected after the loss, saying it was the latest blow to his confidence.

‘It’s really difficult now (the) situation because I lost in the first round of the Australian Open and Rotterdam, Marseille,’ he said. ‘For me, it’s important now to find my game.’