Kei Nishikori to meet Jerzy Janowicz in Gerry Weber Open quarters

HALLE, Germany (AP) — Second-seeded Kei Nishikori advanced to the quarterfinals of the Gerry Weber Open by beating German wild-card entry Dustin Brown 7-5, 6-1 on Thursday.

Brown served a double-fault to give Nishikori two break points at 5-5 and the German then hit a volley into the net and dropped his serve. Nishikori wasted two set points before hitting a service winner to take the first set, and used great returning in the second to wrap up the win in 1 hour, 9 minutes.

"It was a great game for me. For all the important points I think I played good points," said Nishikori, who saved the only break point he faced.

The Japanese player next plays Poland's Jerzy Janowicz, who earlier defeated Colombian qualifier Alejandro Falla 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

Nishikori said he hoped to make the most of the grass-court tournament in preparation for Wimbledon, which gets underway June 29.

"These two matches (played already) will help me get more confidence," Nishikori said. "I hope to play many more."

Brown, distinctive for his dreadlocks and unconventional style, was the fifth of six participating Germans to go out.

"I'm not unsatisfied. I had a few good matches on grass recently. But today Kei was too good for me from 5-5. He made it very difficult for me," Brown said.

In other second-round games Thursday, the fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain was playing Andreas Seppi of Italy and fourth-seeded Gael Monfils of France faced Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.

Top-seeded Roger Federer advanced to the quarterfinals by overcoming Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday. Federer next plays Florian Mayer, the only German left in the event.