Intro:

Fernando Verdasco and Alexandr Dolgopolov book their places in the quarter finals of the Vegeta Croatia Open on Thursday (12th July).

Script:

Quarter final places were up for grabs at the Croatia Open on Thursday.

Top seed Fernando Verdasco, the 2008 champion, faced Latvian Ernests Gulbis for a place in the final eight.

After powering through the opening set 6-2, the Spaniard seemed set for a straight forward win.

But Gulbis had other plans.

The Latvian fought back in the second set, sending a blistering ace down to win it 6-3 and force the match into a decider.

His challenge faded from there though as Verdasco raised his game and cruised through the final set for a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win in just over two hours.

He will now face Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, the world number 137.

Third seed Alexandr Dolgopolov kept his hopes of a successful title defence here alive, with a clinical win over Italy's Fabio Fognini.

The Italian did save two match points, but was unable to force his way back into the match - Dolgopolov closing it out with a smash after just 76 minutes on court.