Rain halts Enqvist as Haas, El Aynaoui advance

Second-seeded Younes El Aynaoui took advantage of a spell of dry weather to complete victory over Austrailian Richard Fromberg and secure a place in the quarterfinals of the $400,000 BMW Open.

The match had been suspended by rain on Wednesday with Fromberg up one set.

But the second-seeded Moroccan bounced back when the match was resumed in the eighth game of the second set, allowing Fromberg only one more game. El Aynaoui beat the Australian 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1.

Only two other matches were completed in between rain delays.

Third-seeded Tommy Haas kept alive German hopes by battling to a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic.

His next opponent will be Frederico Browne of Argentina, a "lucky loser" from the qualifying round who upset Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden 7-5, 7-6 (3).

Top-seeded Tomas Enqvist of Sweden was up 3-1 in the third set against Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic when rain halted play for the day.

Haas used a 70-minute rain break at the start of the third set to regroup after losing the second set.

He immediately broke serve as the two returned from the locker rooms and breezed through the rest of the match.

"I thought about what I needed to do, I talked with my coach and I was much more aggressive after the break," Haas said.

Second round results Frederico Browne, Argentina, def. Jonas Bjorkman, Sweden, 7-5, 7-6 (3). Younes El Aynaoui (2), Morocco, def. Richard Fromberg, Australia, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1. Tommy Haas (3), Germany, def. Bohdan Ulihrach, Czech Republic, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Jiri Novak, Czech Republic, vs. Slava Dosedel (8), Czech Republic, 6-3, 4-6, 4-4, susp., rain. Tomas Enqvist (1), Sweden, leads Ivan Ljubicic, Croatia, 6-2, 6-7, 3-1, suspended, rain.