Steve Johnson started his bid to win a second ATP singles title in less than a month by beating Yuichi Sugita to reach the quarterfinals of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on Wednesday, while Marcel Granollers was one of two seeds to go out of the Swedish Open.
Johnson claimed his maiden title at the Aegon Open in Nottingham last month and followed that up with his best run in a Grand Slam, losing to the great Roger Federer in the fourth round at Wimbledon.
The Californian, given a first-round bye as top seed on home soil this week, showed his quality on grass once again by easing to a 6-1 6-4 second-round victory over the unseeded Sugita.
Johnson won 79 per cent of points on his first serve in Newport and broke three times to ensure he will face Donald Young, who ousted Stefan Kozlov, in the last eight.
Defending champion Rajeev Ram will not match his exploits from last year, as he was beaten 6-3 6-4 by Dudi Sela.
The 2015 runner-up Ivo Karlovic racked up 20 aces as he came from a set down to seal a 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 victory over qualifier Frank Dancevic.
Marcos Baghdatis beat Brian Baker in straight sets, while Marco Chiudinelli showed last year's semi-finalist John-Patrick Smith the exit door.
Quarterfinal spots were also up for grabs in Bastad, but fourth seed Granollers will go no further after he went down 7-5 6-3 to Facundo Bagnis.
Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Fernando Verdasco, seeded three and five respectively, won all-Spanish matches against Roberto Carballes Baena and Albert Montanes respectively. Andrea Arnaboldi also advanced to the last eight.
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