Tennis

Benneteau into quarterfinals at Lyon Grand Prix

Published Oct. 28, 2009 10:25 p.m. ET

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Fifth-seeded Julien Benneteau of France beat qualifier Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-2 Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Lyon Grand Prix.

Benneteau broke the South African's serve four times.

In first-round matches, second-seeded Gilles Simon of France had 14 aces in a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) win over Simone Bolelli of Italy, and Nicolas Kiefer of Germany rallied from a set down to beat Sebastien Grosjean of France 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2) in a match lasting nearly 2 1/2 hours.

Also, 2006 champion Paul-Henri Mathieu defeated Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 7-6 (5), 6-2, and Belgium's Olivier Rochus downed French qualifier Vincent Millot 6-3, 6-2.

"I played a solid match. It wasn't a great match because it's never easy to play against someone you don't know," Mathieu said. "You never know what to expect and you start tentatively."

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