Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (SportsNetwork.com) - Top seed Kei Nishikori eased into the quarterfinals, while defending champion Joao Sousa came up a first- round loser Wednesday at the Malaysian Open tennis event.
The Japanese star and U.S. Open runner-up Nishikori drilled American Rajeev Ram 6-2, 6-3 in second-round action on the hardcourts at Putra Indoor Stadium.
Nishikori's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be Aussie Marinko Matosevic.
Meanwhile, German Benjamin Becker stopped the sixth-seeded Portuguese Sousa 7-6 (7-1), 6-2. Sousa defeated two-time runner-up Julien Benneteau in last year's Kuala Lumpur finale and was a runner-up in Metz, France, last week.
In other second-round play on Wednesday, a fourth-seeded Benneteau got past Serbian wild card Filip Krajinovic 6-4, 6-3, fifth-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay overcame Croat Ivan Dodig 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, and Matosevic bested Japanese Go Soeda 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Benneteau and Cuevas will lock horns in the quarters.
One other opening-round match saw Pole Michal Przysiezny come back to beat Tunisian Malek Jaziri 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
The 2014 Kuala Lumpur champ will claim $165,000.
Fox News First
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.