Swiss world number one Roger Federer and American fourth seed Andy Roddick advanced to the quarterfinals of the $6,9-million ATP and WTA hard-court tournament in Miami with triumphs on Tuesday.
Federer dispatched 37th-ranked Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 6-3 in only 58 minutes, while former world number one Roddick needed 93 minutes to eliminate 130th-ranked German qualifier Simon Greul 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Federer will next play the winner of a later match between American James Blake and Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela, while Roddick goes for a semifinal berth when he faces either Belgian Olivier Rochus or Spain’s David Ferrer.
Tursunov (23) had never faced Federer before, but learned quickly why the ”Federer Express” is the defending champion and winner of January’s Australian Open.
Greul had earlier ousted Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan, Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty and Britain’s Tim Henman, who blitzed the 25-year-old from Stuttgart in the first set only to drop the last two.
Roddick took the first set in 29 minutes and lost the second but dominated the third. For the match he fired nine aces and won 86% of the points off his powerful first serve.
Two Croatians captured fourth-round matches. Sixth seed Ivan Ljubicic defeated Belgian Christophe Rochus 6-3, 6-1 and Mario Ancic eliminated Russian fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-4.
Women’s quarterfinals began with Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova defeating Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 6-0, 7-6 (7/4). — Sapa-AFP