Murray, Davydenko and Tsonga out of Dubai

Dubai: Andy Murray, Nikolay Davydenko and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were the three seeds to depart at the end of the third day of the 2010 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships being played at the Dubai Tennis Stadium late on Wednesday.

Seeded number three Murray fell to the guile of Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (3), 46-, 6-4, while the flambouyant eighth-seeded Tsonga caved in straight sets against veteran Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 6-3 after fourth seed Davydenko had pulled out citing an earlier injury to his left wrist while trailing German opponent Michael Berrer.

But holding his own and advancing to the last eight stages of the singles was defending champion Novak Djokovic, though after some tense moments against countryman Viktor Troicki 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to set a quarterfinal meeting against Ljubicic.

Along with Djokovic the two other seeds to survive are Mikhail Youzhny with a fluent 7-6, 6-4 win against German qualifier Bjorn Phau, while sixth seed Marin Cilic advanced to a meeting with Austrian Jurgen Melzer following a clinical 6-2, 7-6 win against qualifier Stefan Koubek.

Perhaps Melzer was among the biggest winners on the day with a 6-3, 7-5 result against Spaniard Tommy Robredo, who was drafted in place of Roger Federer at the top of the draw after the Swiss had pulled out on the eve of the tournament on Sunday.

The temperamental Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus too was through to the quarters with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win over Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman to face Berrer today.

Doubles upsets too

There were upsets in the doubles competition as well with the unheralded pairing of Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley dumping third seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi 6-4, 6-4 to become the first to enter the semifinals.

Bhupathi and Mirnyi, who had shown signs of crumbling in their 7-5, 6-0 win their opening round victory against wild cards Abdullah Magdas of Kuwait and the UAE’s Mahmoud Nader Al Baloushi, went down in straight sets 4-6, 4-6 on Wednesday.

Also crashing last night was the top-seeded duo of Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor as they caved in 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (7) to the Davis Cup Spanish pair of Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo.

The Indo-Pakistan pair of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Qureshi also went down in their first round encounter 7-5, 6-7 (8), 0-1 to Arnaud Clement and Robert Lindstedt, who will now meet Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Wednesday’s Results:

(Singles)

Michael Berrer bt Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 (retd.); Marin Cilic bt Stefan Koubek 6-2, 7-6 (6); Jurgen Melzer bt Tommy Robredo 6-3, 7-5; Marcos Baghdatis bt Somdev Devvarman 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; Novak Djokovic bt Viktor Troicki 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; Mikhail Youzhny bt Bjorn Phau 7-6, 6-4; Janko Tipsarevic bt Andy Murray 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4; Ivan Ljubicic bt Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 6-3.

(Doubles)

Frantisek Cermak/Michal Mertinak bt Nikolay Davydenko/Igor Kunitsyn (Walk-over); Arnaud Clement/Robert Lindstedt bt Rohan Bopanna/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 5-7, 7-6, 1-0; Feliciano Lopez/Tommy Robredo bt Daniel Nestor/Nenad Zimonjic 6-3, 3-6, 1-0; Simon Aspelin/Paul Hanley bt Mahesh Bhupathi/Max Mirnyi 6-4, 6-4.