XL Bermuda Open.

Like a scene from the movie Twister, number two Byron Black, number five Vince Spadea and number eight Dennis Van Scheppingen were blown off centre court in a matter of five hours.

With the quarter-finals scheduled for today, only two of the original top eight seeds remain, one being number six Patrik Fredriksson, who stemmed the tide of upsets by dispatching Johan Van Herck 7-5, 7-5 last night.

The other is Sargis Sargsian -- but fortunately for him he had yesterday off.

Following up Wednesday's carnage that saw Sandon Stolle and Scott Draper sent packing, Black lost a two-hour thriller to Brett Steven while Van Scheppingen and Spadea were trounced in straight sets by Kris Goosens and Javier Frana respectively.

That leaves an unlikely final eight -- not to mention a couple of hundred spectators -- hoping for a slightly more tolerable climate than what buffeted them yesterday.

"Those were probably the most uncomfortable conditions I've played in in a long time,'' said Steven, following his 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Black.

Winds with gusts of up to 30 knots made every shot in the air an adventure and whipped up particles from the clay court. Factor in chilly temperatures and even a few drops of rain and you'll forgive some players for maybe wishing it was still the indoor season.

One who doesn't is Frana, who's playing like he owns the place.

The 30-year-old from Buenos Aires is a clay court master, advancing to the final here in 1995, the semi-finals last year and looking unbeatable this year after the 6-2, 6-3 job he did on Spadea.

Including his first round win over Bryan Shelton, he's spent a grand total of about one and a half hours in actual competition in his four days here.

"I just played a great game today,'' he said matter-of-factly. "I was very relaxed. I don't like to play in the wind but I was able to go out and forget about it. Mentally, I was very patient.'' Spadea, who barely survived his first round match Jaime Oncins, struggled with both the wind and Frana's mixture of baseline drives and slices at the net.

After having his serve broken for the second straight game to lose the first set, he punctuated his frustration when he launched the offending ball into the stratosphere.

"He didn't seem to adjust well to the conditions,'' Frana said of the 22-year-old American, ranked 79th in the world.

Frana's win earned him a quarter-final date with the surprise of the tournament and a virtual clone in playing styles.

Luis Adrian Morejon, who was knocked out in the qualifying round but grabbed a spot in the main draw when Filip Dewulf pulled out with an injury, continued to belie his 197th spot on the ATP computer when he pummelled Mariano Zabaleta 6-4, 6-4.

"The difference was that I was more consistent (with my shots). That's why I won,'' said Morejon, who a day earlier had taken care of the number three seed, Sandon Stolle, by a similar margin.

If the wind was a nuisance to most players, it was a nightmare for Black.

In countering Steven's serve and volley game, Black relied on a normal weapon of choice for such situations: The lob. You can imagine where a few of those ended up.

It was, as Steven said, "a topsy-turvy game,'' typified by the second set when four straight games went to deuce.

After winning the first set, Steven was up 3-0 in the second only to lose his service at 4-4. Steven returned the favour at 4-3 in the third set, then got a gift when Black fanned on a slice at the net and offered a weak service return on match point.

"He mixed it up well today. He caught me off balance a few times,'' said Black, a Davis Cup winner last week for Zimbabwe.

The world's number 46 ranked player inherited the favourite's mantle with Stoltenberg's departure a day earlier. Of course, as any of the pros will tell you, there's no such thing as a favourite these days.

"Anything can happen out there,'' said Black. "Rankings are just rankings.

You still have to go out and play.'' Steven, an Auckland native who turns 28 in two weeks, holds down the number 124 spot in the rankings. His quarter-final opponent will be Goosens, who, at number 153, knocked off a guy 60 places ahead of him to begin yesterday's festivities.

Only an hour after beating Black, Steven teamed up with Tommy Ho in a doubles quarter-final. The pair lost to the Argentine connection of Lucas Arnold and Daniel Orsanic 1-6, 7-5, 5-7.

OPEN AT A GLANCE YESTERDAY'S RESULTS SINGLES Kris Goossens, Belgium, d Dennis Van Scheppingen (8), Netherlands, 6-3, 6-3 Brett Steven, New Zealand, d Byron Black (2), Zimbabwe, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 Luis Adrian Morejon, Ecuador, d Mariano Zabaleta, Argentina, 6-4, 6-4 Javier Frana, Argentina, d Vincent Spadea (5), United States, 6-2, 6-3 Patrik Fredriksson (6), Sweden, d Johan V.Herck, Belgium, 7-5, 7-5 DOUBLES Quarter-finals Lucas Arnold/Daniel Orsanic d Tommy Ho/Brett Steven 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 Scott Draper/Jason Stoltenberg d Jeff Salzenstein/Kenny Thorne 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 Paul Kilderry/Chris Wilkinson v Sandon Stolle/Cyril Suk (late) TODAY'S SCHEDULE Centre Court Singles Quarter-finals Beginning at 11 a.m.

Luis Adrian Morejon v Javier Frana Kris Goossens v Brett Steven Patrik Fredriksson (6) v Nicolas Lapentti Not before 6.30 p.m.

Marcelo Charpentier v Sargis Sargsian (7) Doubles Quarter-finals Wayne Black/Bryan Shelton v Javier Frana/Mark Knowles Semi-finals Scott Draper/Jason Stoltenberg v Lucas Arnold/Daniel Orsanic