Greg Rusedski was dealt a lucky hand in Milan this afternoon as Switzerland's Marc Rosset was forced to withdraw injured from their second round match.
The seventh seed injured his back while leading 2-1 in the opening set, and despite struggling on until the end of the set, which he lost 6-3, he conceded after Rusedski held serve in the opening game of the second.
The defeat was a sorry end for Rosset, the defending champion at the event which was staged at London Arena last year.
Rusedski beat Italian veteran Gianluca Pozzi in round one, and will now face Russian world number two Marat Safin in the quarter-finals.
U.S. Open champion Safin scraped through to the quarter-final after beating Belgian Xavier Malisse 3-6 6-3 7-5 in the second round.
The Russian appeared to lose his concentration after contesting three umpiring decisions and three times lost advantage on match point before he finally sealed the win after a fine rally.
Safin admitted he had found it hard going.
"It was a tough match but I am satisfied. I hope I can forget this match and the first set especially was not of my level," he said.
Safin said he was impressed with the performance of Malisse.
"I know him very well from our youth days. He was a very, very good youth player and he beat me at under-16 level," he said.
"He has obviously found it hard moving up but I think looking at him today he is coming back."
Safin said he was looking for revenge against Rusedski who beat him in Stuttgart last season but admitted that he faced a testing match.
"Last time I lost to him and it is going to be very difficult against him especially on this surface where it is hard to return first serve," Safin said.
"He also likes to get up to the net and play low, so it will be hard, but nothing is impossible," he added. "But I will need to play better". PA/AFP