Johnson, Gasquet advance to quarterfinals at Japan Open

TOKYO (AP) Steve Johnson and Richard Gasquet advanced to the Japan Open quarterfinals on Thursday, Johnson with a 6-2, 6-4 win over last week's Shenzhen finalist Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Gasquet's 6-0, 7-6 (5) defeat of Yen-Hsun Lu earned him a last-eight match against either Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden or last year's Tokyo finalist David Goffin. They played later Thursday.

Johnson will play eighth-seeded Diego Schwarzman on Friday.

Lu often plays on the lower-grade ATP Challenger circuit, where he was won three titles and 23 out of 28 matches this year.

He was outclassed in the first set but indicated he would not go down without a fight when holding to love in the opening game of the second.

Gasquet broke Lu's next service game before the Taiwanese player broke back to level at 3-3. Lu then put more pressure on Gasquet with a hold to love and another break.

The Frenchman immediately broke back with a couple of backhand winners, held, and then had Lu at 0-30, but could not force another break.

A close tiebreaker ended when Lu's forehand from the baseline was carried long and wide by a strong wind.