AUCKLAND - Defending champion David Ferrer survived a scare to reach the quarter-finals of the Auckland Open on Wednesday, as four seeded players exited early in a day of upsets. The Spanish world number three recovered from a sluggish start to down American qualifier Donald Young 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-1. German second seed Tommy Haas could not conjure a similar escape, beaten 6-4, 6-4 by big-hitting American wildcard Jack Sock. Haas's compatriot Daniel Brands lost 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to Bradley Klahn, while Steve Johnson was responsible for ousting two high-profile names from the tournament. Johnson overcame Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 in a first-round match rescheduled from Tuesday due to rain, then a few hours later beat South African fourth seed Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-4.–AFP