Ruthless Soderling eases into last eight

SECOND seed Robin Soderling wasted little time booking his place in the last eight of the Barcelona Open with a straight-sets win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez.

The Swede never looked in any danger against the 16th seed as he sent down 11 aces and converted all of his three break-point chances on his way to a 6-3, 6-2 win in just 57 minutes. Soderling will next meet Argentina's Eduardo Schwank, a 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) victor over Ivan Navarro.

Third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga rallied from a set down to book his place in the quarter-finals with victory over Spain's Nicolas Almagro. Tsonga, of France, converted four break points on his way to ousting the 15th seed with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 triumph in two hours and two minutes. The win was Tsonga's second in nine days against Almagro following their meeting in Monte Carlo last week.

"I wasn't sliding well at the start, the clay was quite heavy," said Tsonga. "I was struggling to adjust myself to the ball. Then I started to play a bit more how I play on hard courts, which enabled me to get back into the match in the second and third set." Next up for Tsonga is a meeting with Holland's Thiemo de Bakker, who upset seventh seed Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 7-6 (7/4).

Fifth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco survived a scare against 11th-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer before progressing with a 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 win. His next opponent will be Latvia's Ernests Gulbis, who defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 6-3.

David Ferrer, the eighth seed from Spain, progressed after Italian qualifier Simone Bolelli retired with a wrist injury. Ferrer, who was leading 6-0, 3-0 when Bolelli quit after 45 minutes on court, will next play 13th-seeded Thomaz Bellucci, of Brazil, a 6-4 6-4 winner over Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.