Former champion Tommy Robredo of Spain beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Open de Moselle quarterfinals on Wednesday.
The seventh-seeded Robredo will next play fourth-seeded Richard Gasquet after he rallied from a set down to get the better of Paul-Henri Mathieu 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) in an all-French second-round match.
Robredo, who won the indoor tournament in 2007, hit six aces and broke Istomin's serve twice in each set. Gasquet sent down 17 aces in his win.
No. 6 Philipp Kohlschreiber also advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Michael Berrer 6-4, 6-2 in an all-German match. He next plays either No. 1 Marin Cilic or Lukas Lacko of Slovakia.
Kohlschreiber broke Berrer's serve at the start of the second set and saved a break point in the third game of the second set to hold for a 3-0 lead. He clinched victory on his first match point as Berrer lost his serve again.
Defending champion Gael Monfils of France pulled out of the tournament on Wednesday night because of an abdominal injury. The No.2-seeded Monfils had been scheduled to play in the second round Thursday.
Monfils will be replaced by Nicolas Mahut of France.
In an earlier first-round match, inaugural 2003 champ Arnaud Clement lost to Lacko 6-4, 6-2.
Clement led 4-1 but lost the next nine games to trail by a set and 4-0, before finally holding his next two service games.
Lacko served out the match after Clement - a member of France's Davis Cup team - saved two match points.
Kristof Vliegen of Belgium and qualifier Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands also won their openers.
Vliegen won 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 over Federico Del Bonis of Argentina, and Sijsling beat wild card Thierry Ascione of France 6-4, 6-4.
