Brian Baker's remarkable comeback continued as he pulled off the biggest win of his career with a 6-3 7-6 (11/9) victory over Gael Monfils in the second round of the Nice Open.
The 27-year-old American reached the final of the boys' singles at the French Open in 2003 and seemed to have a big career ahead only for injuries to stop him in his tracks.
Four years ago he went back to studying and began working as a tennis coach, but last year he decided to give the tour one more chance and he has not looked back.
His ranking is now 216 and climbing fast, and last month he won a Challenger event in Savannah that earned him a wild card into next week's French Open.
His performance here against the world number 13, which included fighting back from 6-3 down in the second-set tie-break, earned him a place in his first ATP World Tour quarter-final where he will face Mikhail Kukushkin, who edged out fifth seed Bernard Tomic 3-6 6-2 7-5, saving four match points.
Top seed John Isner got the better of Belgium's Xavier Malisse in two tie-breaks, coming through 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/5), and he next meets Nikolay Davydenko following his 6-4 1-6 6-3 victory over seventh seed Denis Istomin.
Second seed Gilles Simon and third seed Nicolas Almagro also advanced, the Frenchman beating qualifier Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 6-3, while Spaniard Almagro was a 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 winner against Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
In other matches, Belgian Steve Darcis saw off Filippo Volandri 3-6 6-2 6-4 and qualifier Thomaz Bellucci defeated former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4 6-3.
