NEWPORT, R.I. — Defending champion Fabrice Santoro pulled out a first-set tiebreaker and then cruised into the quarterfinals of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory over Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi today.

Santoro, 35, the second seed and oldest champion in the 32-year event on the Hall of Fame's grass courts, trailed 3-4 in the tiebreaker before a pair of close line calls appeared to unravel Qureshi.

Qureshi's crosscourt forehand was ruled just wide, tying the tiebreaker at 4-all. He raised his hands in disbelief. One point later, Qureshi hit a forehand that, again, was called out, making it 6-4, prompting another protest before he double-faulted to end the set and flung his racket in disgust.

"For me, the ball was clearly out, and the opinion of the umpire as well," Santoro said of the point that made it 6-4. "That was a big point."

Santoro, a first-round loser to Andy Murray at Wimbledon last month, then broke Qureshi's serve in the first game of the of the final set.

"After the 'breaker, I said, 'You have to be ready to take the opportunity if you get it,"' he said. "I broke and after that I was in control."

In another second-round match, Vince Spadea, making his seventh appearance in Newport, upset third-seeded Nicolas Mahut, 6-2, 6-3. Spadea, who turns 34 on July 19, felt he played nearly flawless against last year's Newport runner-up.

"I played really solid. It was a great win," he said. "I didn't lose serve, broke three times. That's the kind of match every tennis player wants when you go out there on any surface."

In other play, Ivan Navarro ousted No. 8 seed Kevin Anderson, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4; qualifier Alexander Peya defeated sixth-seeded Donald Young, 7-6 (4), 6-3; and wild card Prakash Amritraj eliminated qualifier Rohan Bopanna, an upset winner over top-seeded Mardy Fish on Wednesday, 6-4, 6-3.

The Hall of Fame Championships is played in conjunction with the annual induction ceremony, which will be held on Saturday. Michael Chang, the 1989 French Open champion, heads this year's class. Contributors Mark McCormack and Eugene Scott will be posthumously enshrined.