Munich, May 1:

Former world No 1 Marat Safin is through to the quarter-finals of BMW Open in Munich after beating local hero Michael Berrer 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 here today.

With a host of top names pulling out of the event — including local heros Tommy Haas and Philipp Kohlschreiber — the clay-court event has been shorn of big names. Alongside second seed Fernando Gonzalez, towering Russian Safin is one of the biggest names left in the tournament, but he had to dig deep to beat Germany’s Berrer after the first two sets went to a tie-break.

Having slipped down the ATP rankings to 84th after a long injury break, Safin was given a wildcard entry by the Munich organisers.

Also today, qualifier Younes El Aynaoui from Morocco upset seventh seed Steve Darcis from Belgium 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.