Oeiras, Portugal, 29 April 2011 | AP

Second-seeded Fernando Verdasco survived a late fightback by Portugal’s Frederico Gil to win 6-1 7-6 (7-5) to reach his first quarterfinal in more than two months at the Estoril Open on Thursday.

The left-handed Spaniard won 10 of the first 11 games to lead by a set and 4-0.

But Verdasco, who has dropped out of the top 10 to No.15 this year, let Gil back into the match by losing five games in a row.

Verdasco committed seven double faults as his confidence evaporated and Gil focussed on his less reliable backhand.

Gil, who became the first Portuguese to make an ATP final here last year, forced Verdasco to a tiebreaker but couldn’t extend it.

Fourth-seeded Gilles Simon of France defeated Carlos Berlocq of Argentina 6-2 6-1 a third straight time, and fifth-seeded Milos Raonic advanced with a convincing 6-3 6-3 victory over Portuguese wild card Joao Sousa.

Raonic, who in February became the first Canadian to clinch an ATP Tour title since 1995, has jumped 130 spots in the rankings this year to No.27.

Seventh-seeded South African Kevin Anderson, who also claimed his first career ATP title two months ago, beat Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-4 6-2.

The top three seeds in the women’s competition exited in the quarterfinals.

Top-seeded Alisa Kleybanova of Russia lost 6-4 6-2 against Germany’s Kristina Barrois, Monica Niculescu of Romania rallied to overcome second-seeded Australian Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia 5-7 6-4 6-2 and Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain upset third-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-3 7-5.