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HALLE, Germany -- Defending champion Tommy Haas advanced to the quarterfinals of the Gerry Weber Open on Thursday by outlasting Ernests Gulbis 7-6 (5), 6-4. Second-seeded Richard Gasquet swept past Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-1 and sixth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber joined Gasquet in the last eight by beating German compatriot Tobias Kamke 6-4, 6-3. Kohlschreiber won the Halle event in 2011. The tournament is a grass-court tune-up for Wimbledon. Gasquet fired an ace to close out the first set and dominated the second. Down 15-40 in the final game, he won the next four points to close it out. Haas, who won the Halle event in 2009, is enjoying a second spring at age 35 and is coming off a quarterfinal appearance at the French Open. After losing the first set to a forehand winner by Haas, Gulbis broke his racket in anger and decided to change his shoes and shirt as well. He lost the first three points of the second set but managed to hold. Haas must have felt frustrated, since he had failed to convert 16 straight break points until then. The break came on the 17th and Haas finally went up 3-2 and stayed ahead for good. The German never faced a break point and overcame 15 aces by his Latvian opponent. "Overall, I played a good match. But I would have been very upset if at the end Id lost because I couldnt take all those chances," said Haas, who also had a first-round bye. Haas is the oldest player in the top 100 and is looking for his second title of the year. He is now ranked No. 11. He won last years title in Halle by beating Roger Federer. Kohlschreibers next opponent will be Mikhail Youzhny. Gasquet will play eighth-seeded Florian Mayer, who beat another Mayer, Leonardo of Argentina, 6-2, 6-3. Florian Mayer is a German who beat Gasquet in Wimbledon last year. "He returns very well, he doesnt give you much space to manoeuvr him around the court," Gasquet said of his next opponent. Gasquet had a bye into the second round and said he had used the time since Sunday to practice and adjust to grass. "Its good to practice with good players, I really like playing on grass and its important to prepare for Wimbledon," the Frenchman said. "But this is also a big tournament in itself and I want to do well." Gasquet is playing in Halle for the first time in six years and said he was glad to be back. "I have great memories, I beat Tommy Haas here in a Davis Cup match over five sets (in 2006) -- one of the best matches of my career," Gasquet said. Gasquet was pleased with his opener. "I played very well. I served big and I returned well," said Gasquet, who landed 88 per cent of first serves. "The grass here is faster than in England. I am glad I played that well." Haas next plays Gael Monfils, while the top-seeded Federer meets Mischa Zverev in Fridays quarterfinals. Robel Garcia Jersey . 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Why would the Western Bulldogs pick a giant ruckman in the first round of the AFL draft when everybody knows Luke Beveridge prefers mobile rucks who can play multiple roles?And why would they select a skinny, 205cm prospect when clubs are generally moving away from spending precious first-round picks on project ruckmen?Because Tim English isnt a traditional ruckman.The West Australian played most of his junior football as a midfielder before a growth spurt forced a positional change.That should help English adjust to Beveridges different approach to the role of the ruckman.With less of a premium placed on winning the tap, the Dogs ranked 16th for hitouts in their premiership season and Jordan Roughead, their first-choice ruck, was a key-position player before Beveridge arrived at Whitten Oval.English says hes up for the challenge.(The coach) does like mobile ruckmen and its a huge honour that the (clubs) list management have the faith in me to be able to play that role, English said.At South Fremantle, that was my role so hopefully its similar here.ddddddddddddMobility is one of my strengths, so maybe Im not (a traditional ruckman).Such is Englishs ability to cover the ground and win his own ball, hes been favourably compared to West Coast great Dean Cox.I cant really control what peoples opinions are ... Id be stoked if I could be half as good as Dean Cox, he said.Obviously its a huge comparison, Im pretty humbled by that, but I havent really achieved anything yet.Weighing just 92kg, English has significant work to do to get his body up to AFL standard and will likely spend 2017 in the gym and learning his craft at VFL level.English and fellow draftees Patrick Lipinski, Lewis Young and Fergus Greene joined the Bulldogs first-to-fourth-year players on Tuesday at Whitten Oval.The 2016 premiership party will be over for the rest of the playing group when full pre-season training begins next week. ' ' '