Muller reaches quarters in Metz

Metz - Gilles Muller of Luxembourg won in straight sets on Wednesday to move into the quarter-finals of the Moselle Open.

The eighth-seeded Muller fired 12 aces to beat French wild card Benoit Paire 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Meanwhile, Arnaud Clement of France, Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany and Igor Kunitsyn of Russia advanced to the second round.

Clement, the 2003 winner, beat Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-4, racing to a 3-0 lead and clinching the first set with an ace, before breaking at 4-3 in the second set.

The 2001 Australian Open runner-up will next face Nicolas Mahut of France.

The seventh-seeded Kohlschreiber beat Jonathan Dasnieres de Veigy 6-4, 7-6 (4), and Kunitsyn defeated Kenny De Schepper 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.

Kohlschreiber will next play Dutch qualifier Igor Sijsling, while Kunitsyn will meet sixth-seeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium.

Results from the third day of the ATP event on Wednesday (x denotes seeding):

1st rd

Arnaud Clement (FRA) bt Michael Llodra (FRA x5) 6-3, 6-4
Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) bt Kenny De Schepper (FRA) 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x7) bt Jonathan Dasnieres de Veigy (FRA) 6-4, 7-6 (7/4)

2nd rd

Alexandr Dolgopolov Jr. (UKR x3) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-3
Gilles Muller (LUX x8) bt Benoit Paire (FRA) 7-6 (7/5), 6-4