The quarter-finals of the XL Capital Bermuda Open assumed final shape yesterday as the remaining four places were filled ? one by a qualifier.

Fluid-stroking Frenchman Stephane Robert produced the shock of the day when he dispatched fourth seed Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in their second-round fixture.

Robert romped into the lead with impressive breaks in the first and third games of the match to grab the first set before Carlsen had even settled properly.

The lithe 24-year-old, playing with a sublime touch, maintained his excellent mixture of groundstrokes and volleys in the second set until the seventh game when left-handed Carlsen, gradually coming into his own despite obvious shoulder trouble, seized a crucial break point. That proved the difference in the set and sent the match to a third-set showdown.

However, Robert ? keen to improve on his second-round exit in Houston?s ATP tournament last week ? would not be denied. Again he pounced on an early break opportunity for a 3-0 advantage as an increasingly irate Carlsen took his frustration out on his racquet.

That lone surrender of serve was enough and, despite Carlsen?s best efforts, Robert went on to game, set and match with a winning backhand volley into an open court with his opponent at net.

?It?s a very good surprise for me. I?m playing well this week and I?m in good shape. I reached the second round in Houston and now I?m in the quarter-finals here.

?It was a tough three-set match. It was very difficult at the beginning of the final set because I was tired. I had my chances to win in straight sets but I missed them. It was really close.

?I tried again in the third set and it was worked for me,? the winner told .

Robert explained that as a clay-court specialist he was happy to remain on the baseline but was forced to venture to net against Carlsen because of somewhat windy conditions on Coral Beach?s courts.

In addition, he had predetermined to pressure the Dane?s backhand which was a bit weaker than his forehand.

Italy?s Davide Sanguinetti and Juan Monaco of Argentina had less work in booking their places among the quarter-finalists with straight-sets victories versus Juan-Pablo Guzman and Bjorn Phau respectively.

Sanguinetti put Guzman out of his misery 6-3, 6-4 while Monaco rebounded from dropping serve in the opening game of his match to cruise to a 6-4, 6-2 win.

?I think I played smart. He is a good baseline player and hits the ball very hard and I was keeping him moving,? said 31-year-old Sanguinetti of his success against Argentine Guzman.

However, he conceded that when he went 2-0 up in the second set he expected less of a struggle but that was not so.

?I thought he was going to let me go through easily but he came back and I lost my concentration and from there it was tough.

?I was losing my calm because I hardly lose my serve, maybe only once in each match and I was losing it too many times today, once in the first set and twice in the second. I was a bit frustrated.?

Though pitted against top seed Luis Horna for a semi-final berth, Sanguinetti was optimistic about his chances, saying ?anybody can win the tournament?.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Monaco was pleased with his polished demolition of the man who had put former US Open runner-up Greg Rusedski on an early flight out of Bermuda in the first round.

It would not to be a case of Bjorn again.

Monaco was all over Phau?s serve, breaking it three times in both sets as his piercing groundstrokes and wily drop shots catapulted him further and further ahead. He closed the match in style with an emphatic ace past the German.

?I?m very happy. I think I played a good match and now I?m in the quarter-finals and I will be trying to win,? said Monaco who opposes Robert today.

The winner said he was not worried about starting the match with a losing service game because this often happened to him but then he gets going and plays much better.

Phau, 24, was puzzled as to how his form deserted him.

?I started very well. I was 2-0 up and somehow I lost my game. I don?t know why. He stayed tough and didn?t make many unforced errors. He didn?t give me any easy points.

?I always had one or two easy unforced errors per game and that?s too many on clay,? he noted.