Title holder Kafelnikov in Marseille last eight

Defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov had to work hard before beating local favourite Arnaud Clement to reach the quarter-finals of the Marseille Open on Thursday.

The Russian, seeded second, won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in just under two hours and will meet three times Marseille winner Marc Rosset of Switzerland in the last eight.

"It was an interesting test against a crowd favourite. This will give me a lot of confidence for the rest of the tournament," said Kafelnikov.

"I had my moments of doubt but, by and large, I'm happy with game right now," he added.

The Russian's opponent in last year's final, Marseille-born Sebastien Grosjean, seeded third, eased into the third round with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Spaniard Tommy Robredo.

Briton Greg Rusedski also fought his way into the quarter-finals with a three-sets victory over another Frenchman, Fabrice Santoro.

Rusedski, who defeated Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson in the previous round, won 6-3 5-7 6-4 with the Briton's serve again proving an effective weapon, though it was not as efficient as in his first-round victory.

"I was a little bit tired from my Davis Cup efforts and my first round against Johansson. My serve was a little less effective," he said.

Santoro had the advantage when he took the second set 7-5 and held three break points at the beginning of the third before Rusedski found some reserves of energy to raise his game and defeat the 1999 Marseille champion.

"I gave a little bit more pace in the last set and my first serve worked better too," the Briton said.

Rusedski will meet another Frenchman, Nicolas Escude, in the quarter-finals.

"It will be another difficult match with the crowd against me," Rusedski said.

Top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain was also taken to three sets by Russian Andrei Stoliarov before easing into the next round 6-0 5-7 6-3.

The Spaniard will also play a Frenchman in the quarterfinals -- the winner of the tie between Cedric Pioline and Julien Boutter.