French Open champion Rafael Nadal and American Andre Agassi remained on course for a possible final showdown as they booked quarterfinal berths at the $2,45-million ATP Masters Series in Montreal on Thursday.
Nadal, the top seed who is seeking his third straight title, emerged with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over France’s Sebastien Grosjean, although 19-year-old Spaniard had to fight off five break points to hold his serve throughout the match.
”The fact that I didn’t have much time to rest after last night didn’t change anything,” said Nadal, who had beaten Grosjean in four sets en route to the title at Roland Garros. ”I think that taking his serve early in the match really helped me a lot. I’m very happy because in this tournament I think I never lost my serve. That’s new for me.”
Agassi, the fourth seed and a three-time champion in Montreal, cruised past German Nicolas Kiefer 6-4, 6-2.
Nadal, who improved his singles mark to 61-7 this season, is seeking his ninth title of the year but first on a surface other than clay.
In March, he lost in the final of the hard-court ATP Masters Series event in Miami to top-ranked Roger Federer, the winner in Montreal last year but not entered this season.
After bowing out in the second round at Wimbledon, Nadal won back-to-back events at Bastad and Stuttgart before taking a two-week break prior to this event. He struggled against friend and Davis Cup teammate Carlos Moya in the first round, then routed fellow left-hander Ricardo Mello of Brazil on Wednesday.
Nadal next will face eighth-seeded Mariano Puerta of Argentina, who eliminated Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-2, 6-4.
Agassi needed just 86 minutes to dispatch Kiefer, saving the only break point he faced. He broke the German at 4-4 in the first set and never looked back.
Agassi (35) is coming off his 60th career victory in Los Angeles two weeks ago. It was his first event since returning from a painful back injury.
Agassi next meets sixth-seeded Argentinian Gaston Gaudio, who beat Spain’s Tommy Robredo 6-3, 7-6 (7/0).
In other third-round matches, Canadian-born Briton Greg Rusedski reached the quarter-finals of this event for the first time in his career.
Rusedski beat Croatian Mario Ancic 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, breaking his opponent’s serve four times.
In the quarters, he will face Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty, a 6-4, 6-2 winner of Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Slovakian Karol Beck surprised fifth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4) to line up a clash with France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Mathieu (23) continued an impressive run, cruising into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Olivier Rochus of Belgium.
”I played a very good match. I think the best of the week,” Mathieu said. ”I played well on the important points. I played a great first set.” — Sapa-AFP