Jonas Bjorkman played his 1,000th career ATP doubles match on Wednesday, teaming with Kevin Ullyett to beat Americans Scott Lipsky and David Martin 6-2, 7-5 in the quarterfinals.
After the win, organizers presented Bjorkman with a cake on the Royal Tennis Hall's center court.
"Yummy, it was very good,'' Bjorkman said.
The 36-year-old Swede, who has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles, now has 698 wins in doubles on the tour. He could reach the 700-mark with his 53rd title in Sunday's final.
"It would be super cool,'' said Bjorkman, a two-time Stockholm Open winner in doubles. "It's fun to reach such milestones. We have played two really good matches here so far. Today, they gave us no free points. They're very good.''
In singles, third-seeded Jarkko Nieminen rallied from a set down to beat Thomaz Bellucci 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5 in the first round.
The Finn earned the decisive break to go up 6-5 in the third set when Bellucci's forehand sailed long. Nieminen then held his serve to close out the match.
"I didn't believe he could serve so well,'' Nieminen said. "He also played well otherwise. I was somewhat passive in the beginning. Then I played more aggressive. I kept thinking positive and fought until the end.''
The 33rd-ranked Nieminen is making his ninth straight appearance in the Royal Tennis Hall. He reached the 2001 final, losing in five sets, and made the quarterfinals last year.
Bellucci, a 20-year-old Brazilian, made his ATP main draw debut in February and is ranked 80th.
In another first-round match between two qualifiers, George Bastl of Switzerland outlasted Frederik Nielsen of Denmark 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (4).
Also, Arnaud Clement of France routed Swedish qualifier Bjorn Rehnquist 6-2, 6-1.
Roger Federer withdrew from the tournament last week, leaving seventh-ranked David Nalbandian as the top-seeded player.
Defending champion Ivo Karlovic skipped the tournament, held for the 40th time.
Bjorkman, who was fourth in 1997 for his highest singles ranking, lost his opening singles match Tuesday in straight sets to Juan Monaco - his last in Sweden and most likely his last on the tour. The veteran, who has played 16 years on the tour, is retiring after this season. Bjorkman and Ullyett are sixth in the ATP Doubles Race.
"We have two or three tournaments left, Madrid, Paris and maybe one more depending on the race, and then hopefully the season-ending event,'' Bjorkman said.
Cyril Suk of the Czech Republic leads the list with 1,147 doubles matches (618 wins and 529 losses) on the ATP Tour.
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