HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) -- Rafael Nadal settled an old score against Igor Andreev on Thursday, while Roger Federer was back to his best to beat Juan Carlos Ferrero and join him in the quarterfinals of the Hamburg Masters.
Nadal's 6-4 6-1 victory over the Andreev took his winning streak on clay to 79 matches, dating back to a quarterfinal defeat by the Russian in the Valencia Open in April 2005.
Federer, the world number one, followed him out on court and needed just an hour to rack up a ruthless 6-2 6-3 win over Ferrero, a former French Open champion.
Nadal had not played Andreev on clay since the Valencia defeat. With the sun out and roof open, the Spaniard overcame a few early difficulties with Andreev's dynamite forehand to seize control.
He broke early in the first set and saved two break points on his own serve to consolidate. The second set was more one-sided, with the double French Open champion taking it at a canter to complete victory in 87 minutes.
"I'm very happy with my game at the moment," Nadal said at a news conference. "I played a serious match and I feel confident."
Two other Spaniards joined Nadal in the last eight. Twelfth seed David Ferrer beat seventh-seeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-3 and Carlos Moya, another former French Open champion, recovered from a bad start to beat eighth-seeded American James Blake 1-6 6-3 6-3 in an entertaining battle
Ferrero could not join his countrymen, as he was expertly beaten by Federer.
It was a far more impressive performance from the Swiss than his scratchy victory over Juan Monaco in the second round and should give him more confidence as he approaches Roland Garros, starting later this month.
He now faces Ferrer in the last eight.
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Nadal's 6-4 6-1 victory over the Andreev took his winning streak on clay to 79 matches, dating back to a quarterfinal defeat by the Russian in the Valencia Open in April 2005.
Federer, the world number one, followed him out on court and needed just an hour to rack up a ruthless 6-2 6-3 win over Ferrero, a former French Open champion.
Nadal had not played Andreev on clay since the Valencia defeat. With the sun out and roof open, the Spaniard overcame a few early difficulties with Andreev's dynamite forehand to seize control.
He broke early in the first set and saved two break points on his own serve to consolidate. The second set was more one-sided, with the double French Open champion taking it at a canter to complete victory in 87 minutes.
"I'm very happy with my game at the moment," Nadal said at a news conference. "I played a serious match and I feel confident."
Two other Spaniards joined Nadal in the last eight. Twelfth seed David Ferrer beat seventh-seeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-3 and Carlos Moya, another former French Open champion, recovered from a bad start to beat eighth-seeded American James Blake 1-6 6-3 6-3 in an entertaining battle
Ferrero could not join his countrymen, as he was expertly beaten by Federer.
It was a far more impressive performance from the Swiss than his scratchy victory over Juan Monaco in the second round and should give him more confidence as he approaches Roland Garros, starting later this month.
He now faces Ferrer in the last eight.
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
No comments:
Post a Comment