Gael Monfils and Marcos Baghdatis, ranked third and fifth seeds respectively, both crashed out in the quarterfinals of the ATP tournament here Thursday. World No. 15 Monfils fell to Italian journeyman Potito Starace, ranked 63rd, in straight sets, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 and did not offer any excuses for a defeat which does not bode well for the French Open that starts Sunday. “He played better than me. I had my chances but I just gifted it to him,” bemoaned Monfils. “I needed matches and I'm happy to have played two here even if I am disappointed because I wanted to win the tournament.” Unheralded Argentine Leonardo Mayer, ranked 59th in the world, needed three hours to get past the world No. 29 Baghdatis from Cyprus 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Mayer will play Spanish second seed Fernando Verdasco, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 winner over Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, for a place in the final. The other semifinal sees Starace taking on Frenchman Richard Gasquet, 6-4, 6-2 victor over Belgian Olivier Rochus. Wozniacki retires hurt In Poland, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki retired with an injured ankle in the Warsaw Open quarterfinals Thursday, jeopardizing her playing in the French Open. Wozniacki, ranked No. 3 in the world behind the Williams sisters, lost the first set to fifth-seeded Zheng Jie of China 6-3 then quit. The US Open finalist sprained her right ankle en route to the semifinals at Charleston in mid-April and it has nagged her ever since. In four tournaments since Charleston, the Dane has won only three singles. In the semifinals, Zheng will face unseeded Greta Arn of Hungary, who beat sixth-seeded Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. In the other semifinal, third-seeded Li Na of China will meet defending champion Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania. Li beat Sara Errani of Italy 6-2, 6-1, while unseeded Dulgheru rallied from 5-2 down in the second set to top Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 7-5. Vania King advances In France, Vania King of the US reached the semifinals of the Strasbourg International with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Anastasia Rodionova Thursday. King broke her opponent six times in a match where both players struggled to hold serve. She will next play Germany's Kristina Barrois, who defeated seventh-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-1, 7-5. Top-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia was leading 3-2 with a break when her match against Germany's Julia Goerges was interrupted by rain, while Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues had just won the first set 6-2 against Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden. Those matches will resume Friday morning before the semifinals. Querrey beats Hajek In Germany, Sam Querrey gave the US a winning start in its bid to reach Saturday's final at the World Team Cup. Querrey beat Jan Hajek 6-3, 7-5 Thursday to put the US 1-0 up against the Czech Republic in the Red Group and remains unbeaten in his three singles this week. The second singles and a doubles will be on Friday. The Americans are bidding to win a fifth title, but a first since 1993. The winner of the match between France and Argentina, which stands at 1-1, will qualify from the Blue Group. Jeremy Chardy put France ahead by beating Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-4 but Eduardo Schwank leveled with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Paul-Henri Mathieu. The deciding doubles is Friday.
