Black joins fallen seeds

Byron Black won this tournament in 1999

Zimbabwe's Byron Black became the latest seed to be knocked out of the Indian Open when he lost to French qualifier Cyril Saulnier in the second round.

Black, the fourth seed who won the title in 1999, was upset 6-3 6-4 by Saulnier, who moves into the quarter-finals in Madras.

Black became the fifth seed to crash out of the event.

Top-seeded Swede Magnus Norman and second seed Franco Squillari of Argentina were among the four seeds who made first-round exits.

Seventh seed Markus Hantschk of Germany and eighth seed Jiri Vanek of Czech Republic were the other two seeds to fall in the first round.

Saulnier subdued Black with his big serve and volley game on centre court at the Nungambakkam Stadium.

Aggression

He described the win as the biggest of his professional career.

"I served very well today and played aggressively. Once you are in the quarter-finals of an event as big as this, you have a great chance of going all the way."

The Czech Republic's Michal Tabara joined Saulnier in the quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-0 victory over Dutchman Edwin Kempes, who beat Vanek in the previous round.

Tabara had eliminated top seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the first round here last year.

Spain's Tommy Robredo also reached the quarter-finals after recovering from a set down to beat countryman David Sanchez 4-6 6-1 6-2.