(photo: sportsnet)

It turned out to be an arduous yet disappointing day in the office for the top seeds at the ATP 250 BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy on Friday, as three off the four prime contenders crashed out of the tournament after losing their respective quarterfinal encounters.

3^rd seed Ivo Karlovic was the first to be a focus of the upset bug, as the big-serving Croat went down to Czech Republic’s Jiri Vesely 6-4 6-4.

Former champion and No. 4 seed Lukas Rosol also bowed out of the tournament, following a 6-4 7-6 defeat from the hands of Spanish journeyman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Top seed Gilles Simon also could not refuse to accept a stunning loss by going down fighting to Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-6 4-6 6-2 in a grueling clash that lasted for 2 hours and 19 minutes.

However, 2nd seed Gael Monfils was the only favorite to advance to the quarterfinals with a 6-3 7-6 triumph over Italian Simone Bolelli.