Second seed Richard Gasquet will meet French compatriot and sixth seed Jeremy Chardy for a place in the If Stockholm Open semi-finals on Friday.

Gasquet was leading 6-1, 2-0 when Steve Darcis retired due to a left ankle injury after 32 minutes of play. Chardy lost six of his first service points in a 6-3, 7-6(2) win over Federico Delbonis.

“It was not the way I wanted to win, Steve is a friend,” said Gasquet. “It’s a tough week, with lots of very good players, but I will try my best.”

Defending champion and top seed Tomas Berdych downed young gun Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4 in 87 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals. The Czech took the first set without facing a break point and went 4-for-8 on break chances against the 18-year-old German. Last week, Berdych and Rafael Nadal became the latest players to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Just two singles spots remain at the season-ending event, to be held 15-22 November at The O2 in London.

“I’m happy with the way I handled the match, and it’s always helpful to win in straight sets,” said Berdych. “There were some ups and downs, but it went well in the end. The conditions were pleasant. I was able to use my experience well to get past a guy with a great future in front of him, and I wish him well.”

Next up for Berdych is fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov, who took out Nicolas Almagro 6-2, 6-4.

Butorac/Lipsky Hold Their Nerve

Third seeds Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky held their nerve to beat Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner 7-6(4), 7-5, while Mate Pavic and Michael Venus overcame fourth seeds Jonathan Marray and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 7-6(4).