BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy: Florian Mayer vs. Albert Ramos

Florian Mayer is in action against Albert Ramos in the Bucharest quarter-finals on Friday.

Mayer reached his eighth quarter-final of a stunning 2011 season with a battling 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 win over Argentina's Carlos Berlocq. Berlocq came to Bucharest on the back of a challenger title and Mayer was a little fortunate to escape unscathed.

The second seed will be hoping to reach his second ATP final this week after reaching that stage in Munich back in the spring. However on Friday he's up against another player who's been gaining a lot of confidence on the challenger circuit in Ramos.

Ramos does not have the greatest of records on the main tour but he's been performing superbly at the lower levels this summer, winning a title in San Sebastian recently. It's all paid off on the bigger stage this week as he saw off local favourite Victor Hanescu 6-4, 6-3 in round one and then edged out compatriot Pere Riba 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Mayer leads 1-0 on the head-to-head having beaten Ramos 6-3, 6-2 in a clay-court challenger in 2009.