Buenos Aires, Feb 15 (IANS): Defending champion Dominic Thiem of Austria advanced to the Argentina Open quarterfinals after the top seed defeated Germany's Maximilian Marterer 6-4, 6-4.

Thiem, the favourite to retain the title, continued his sweeping pace in Buenos Aires and stretched to 10 wins his unbeaten streak by ousting Marterer on Thursday, reports Efe news.

The Austrian, who has won the titles of 2016 and 2018, will meet Pablo Cuevas in the next round after the Uruguayan beat Portugal's Joao Sousa a 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Argentina Open ATP 250 Tournament.

In another match on Thursday, Argentine Diego Schwartzman pulled off a hard-fought 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win against Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene to set up a next-round clash with 96th-ranked Albert Ramos of Spain.

Ramos defeated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer, ranked 149th in the world, 3-6, 7-6 (9), 6-3 in a match that lasted two hours and 29 minutes.

Three-time champion Ferrer, who has announced that he will retire from professional tennis after the Madrid Open in May, got an emotional farewell after the 36-year-old's last participation in the tournament.