CHENNAI, India — Stan Wawrinka advanced to the quarterfinals of the Chennai Open by beating Russian teenager Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-2 Wednesday (early Thursday in Manila).
The top-seeded Swiss player, a two-time defending champion aiming for a fourth title in Chennai, did not face a break point during the match.
"It was the first match of the year for me and it was important to be ready for that," Wawrinka said. "Every tournament is a challenge and he (Rublev) has very good potential."
Wawrinka will next face fifth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, who beat Ante Pavic of Croatia 7-6 (5), 6-1.
Fourth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain also won, beating John Millman of Australia 6-4, 6-1 to set up a match against Borna Coric of Croatia. The 19-year-old Coric defeated Austin Krajicek of the United States 6-2, 7-5.
Also, second-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa withdrew from the tournament with a knee injury after a first-round bye. Alexander Kudryavtsev of Russia replaced him in the draw and will play Ramkumar Ramanathan of India in the second round on Thursday (early Friday morning in Manila).