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Federer, Nadal lead world's top eight into Montreal quarters
Roger Federer booked a quarter-final berth at the Montreal Masters and stayed on course for a finals showdown with Nadal.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: August 14, 2009 11:34 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Montreal:
Top-seeded Federer avenged a spring loss to fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) victory.
Second seed Nadal, playing this week for the first time since May 31 after resting his injured knees, gave his fragile confidence a huge boost with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of German Philipp Petzschner.
The two led an historic parade of the top eight seeds into the into the quarters of the USD three million tournament - the first time since the rankings began in 1973 that the top eight players in the world have all reached the quarters at the same ATP event.
"It's not just the top eight seeds, it's the top eight players in the world," Federer said. "It's a special occasion. It shows that the top guys are really consistent at the big events. It's nice it finally happened."
Wawrinka, who played alongside Federer to win the Beijing Olympic doubles gold medal, had beaten his celebrated compatriot in the third round at Monte Carlo in April.
Wawrinka made Federer work for this one, saving four match points in the tiebreaker before missing a low volley at the net to exit after one and three-quarters hours.
Federer will next play Frenchman and Swiss resident Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the seventh seed who beat compatriot Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-3.
After claiming the first set with a forehand to the corner, Federer had trouble closing out the victory a set later. A 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker almost went for nought as Wawrinka fought back at the end.
Federer beat Tsonga in their only meeting at Madrid, 2008.
Nadal showed some signs of nerves with a double-fault on his first match point, but fired home a winner on his second try.
Nadal will face Argentinian sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro, who rallied to beat Victor Hanescu of Romania 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Third seed Andy Murray stayed in touch with his dream of seizing the world number two ranking from Nadal, stopping Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 6-3. Murray needs to reach the semi-finals, and also hope that defending champion Nadal does not progress into the final four.
Murray has now won all three of his matches with former number one Ferrero, beating the 29-year-old Spaniard on grass this summer at Queen's and Wimbledon. Victory took 77 minutes as the Scot never faced a break point.
Murray will play eighth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko, a 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 winner over Chile's Fernando Gonzalez. Serbia's Novak Djokovic, seeded fourth, reached the last eight with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
Roger Federer has captured his 21st consecutive match win as he booked a quarter-final berth at the Montreal Masters and stayed on course for a finals showdown with Rafael Nadal.Top-seeded Federer avenged a spring loss to fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) victory.
Second seed Nadal, playing this week for the first time since May 31 after resting his injured knees, gave his fragile confidence a huge boost with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of German Philipp Petzschner.
The two led an historic parade of the top eight seeds into the into the quarters of the USD three million tournament - the first time since the rankings began in 1973 that the top eight players in the world have all reached the quarters at the same ATP event.
"It's not just the top eight seeds, it's the top eight players in the world," Federer said. "It's a special occasion. It shows that the top guys are really consistent at the big events. It's nice it finally happened."
Wawrinka, who played alongside Federer to win the Beijing Olympic doubles gold medal, had beaten his celebrated compatriot in the third round at Monte Carlo in April.
Wawrinka made Federer work for this one, saving four match points in the tiebreaker before missing a low volley at the net to exit after one and three-quarters hours.
Federer will next play Frenchman and Swiss resident Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the seventh seed who beat compatriot Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-3.
After claiming the first set with a forehand to the corner, Federer had trouble closing out the victory a set later. A 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker almost went for nought as Wawrinka fought back at the end.
Federer beat Tsonga in their only meeting at Madrid, 2008.
Nadal showed some signs of nerves with a double-fault on his first match point, but fired home a winner on his second try.
Nadal will face Argentinian sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro, who rallied to beat Victor Hanescu of Romania 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Third seed Andy Murray stayed in touch with his dream of seizing the world number two ranking from Nadal, stopping Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 6-3. Murray needs to reach the semi-finals, and also hope that defending champion Nadal does not progress into the final four.
Murray has now won all three of his matches with former number one Ferrero, beating the 29-year-old Spaniard on grass this summer at Queen's and Wimbledon. Victory took 77 minutes as the Scot never faced a break point.
Murray will play eighth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko, a 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 winner over Chile's Fernando Gonzalez. Serbia's Novak Djokovic, seeded fourth, reached the last eight with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis David Ferrer Novak Djokovic Bernard Tomic Rafael Nadal Andy Murray Stanislas Wawrinka Roger Federer
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