Stan Wawrinka continued his quest for an 11th ATP World Tour title Wednesday at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships. The Swiss avenged his 2014 loss to Tatsuma Ito with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory in Tokyo.

“It was a tough match and after losing to him last year, I am happy to have gotten through,” said Wawrinka. “I tried to mix up my play in the third set to move him around more. I have one day off now and will train to be ready for my next match.”

With his 45th match win of the year, Wawrinka will now prepare for a Friday quarter-final clash against Joao Sousa or qualifier Austin Krajicek. Sousa, making his Tokyo debut, accounted for Feliciano Lopez, the seventh seed, who lost to David Ferrer in the Kuala Lumpur final on Sunday, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

Wawrinka has already clinched his spot at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Third seed Gilles Simon, who is currently No. 14 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, converted five of his nine break points to knock out Jiri Vesely 6-4, 6-2 in 76 minutes. Last year’s Tokyo semi-finalist will now play Gilles Muller, who became the first player to reach the quarter-finals by beating Jeremy Chardy for a third time, 7-6(3), 7-6(5).

Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Wawrinka have secured their spots at the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November. Four spots remain up for grabs, with sixth-placed Kei Nishikori working hard in Tokyo this week to join them.