Intro:

The quarter-finals of the ATP Nice Open took place on Thursday (May 22nd), with Albert Montanes claiming victory in the first match.

Script:

At the Nice Open, reigning champion Albert Montanes of Spain defeated Argentina's Leonardo Mayer in the first quarter-final.

With six singles titles already under his belt already, the Spaniard will be hoping to gain a seventh.

He was met with strong resistance in a tight first set, Montanes rallied to a 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 victory.

- -

Meanwhile Federico Delbonis was up against a resurgent number one seed John Isner.

But it was the Argentinian that came out on top over the American in a hard-fought third set tie-break.

He goes through to the semi-finals with a a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 victory

- -

In the final match of the day, Gilles Simon overcame Carlos Berlocq in comprehensive fashion, with the French player dispatching his opponent in only 85 minutes.

Berlocq pushed his opponent in the first set securing four games but was subsequently brushed aside by Simon in the second to lose 6-4, 6-1.

In the last quarter-final of the day, Russia's Dmitry Tursunov was defeated by Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 with another close tie-break in the final set.