Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal remained on collision course at the Montreal Masters after coming through third-round matches in contrasting styles on Thursday.
MONTREAL: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal remained on collision course at the Montreal Masters after coming through third-round matches in contrasting styles on Thursday.
World number one Federer demolished Italian qualifier Fabio Fognini 6-1 6-1 in 45 minutes to reach the last eight but Nadal had to battle back from a set down to beat Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 3-6 6-3 6-2.
World number 139 Fognini had upset 13th seed Andy Murray in the previous round but the 20-year-old was outclassed by Federer on Centre Court.
"I thought the first match (against Ivo Karlovic) was already very good," Federer told reporters.
"Playing in perfect conditions today, playing a solid match against a youngster, that was an excellent match.
"I was happy it all went my way and I didn't have to struggle too much out there. (When it''s a short match), people like to say, "I couldn't get into the rhythm and stuff. It's not true. I got a perfect rhythm out there today."
The Swiss now plays former world number one Lleyton Hewitt, who beat Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty 6-7 7-6 7-5, saving two match points in the second-set tiebreak.
Nadal Scare
Nadal survived a real scare before seeing off an inspired Mathieu.
In a first set that lasted longer than Federer's entire match, Nadal was bullied by the power of the Frenchman's groundstrokes and one break, in the eighth game, was enough to give it to Mathieu.
French Open champion Nadal dug deep to fight off six break points in his first three service games of the second set and turned the tables by breaking Mathieu in the sixth before holding on to level the match.
The pair traded breaks at the start of the third set but Nadal moved ahead with another break in the fifth game and after repeating the feat two games later, served out for victory.
"Mathieu is a great player," Nadal said. "I know he was coming in with good confidence but today I didn't play very well. Especially in the last games of the first set and the beginning of the second, I played terrible with my forehand. "Later, I had one nice point with one passing shot. After that, I started feeling the ball a little bit better, not especially good, but better."
In the quarter-finals, Nadal will play Frank Dancevic of Canada, who beat Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 4-6 6-4 6-3.
Third seed Novak Djokovic set up a meeting with number five seed Andy Roddick after he beat Argentine David Nalbandian 6-2 6-3.
Roddick hammered Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-2 6-3 in the night session.
Fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko won an all-Russian battle with 14th seed Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 6-3. Davydenko will play Czech Radek Stepanek, who upset 12th seed Tommy Haas 6-3 2-6 6-2.
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