Barcelona Open ninth seed Ernests Gulbis has seen off Albert Montanes 7-5 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals of this year's tournament.

Both players started very well on serve, with the first six games going to the man with the balls without even a break point needing to be defended.

However, in the seventh Montanes upped his game to take what looked to be a crucial break, until Gulbis broke straight back before claiming another late in the set for a 7-5 win.

Gulbis held serve to begin with in the second set, before coming out on top of a lengthy second game to break for 2-0, which he then consolidated to fly into an easy lead.

From that point on, Gulbis held serve and managed one more break to wrap up the second set after just 34 minutes, which ensured him his place in the quarters.