Federer cruises into quarters

Hamburg, Rome: Holder Roger Federer continued his trouble-free progress at the Hamburg Masters with a 6-3 6-2 win over unseeded Swede Robin Soderling on Thursday.

Novak Djokovic, the third-seeded Serb, joined the top seed in the quarter-finals after winning a tough match with Croatia's Ivo Karlic 7-6 6-3, but fifth seed David Ferrer went out in an all-Spanish battle with Fernando Verdasco by losing 7-6 6-2.

World No 1 Federer, who beat Rafael Nadal to win the title for the fourth time last year, was barely made to sweat with a second successive straight-sets win at the 2.27 million euro ($3.52 million) clay-court tournament.

"I controlled things from the baseline and I served well when I had to," Federer told a news conference. "He has a big game, a big serve, but I retrieved it well and scrambled well. That was important."

Great shape

Djokovic, who is fast making up ground on Federer and Nadal, wasted an early break in the first set against the powerful Karlovic and almost paid the price.

The Croat moved a mini-break ahead in the tiebreak, but his failure to put away a smash handed it back and Djokovic got the decisive edge with an unplayable return to feet on the next point.

The second set was easier for the Serb, who looks in great shape after winning in Rome last week and can look forward to a quarterfinal against Spain's Albert Montanes.

Federer's next opponent will be Verdasco after his surprise victory over Ferrer in the first match on centre court.

The Spaniard edged the first set 7-4 in the tiebreak and took a 4-1 lead in a second set that was tighter than the scoreline suggests, with Ferrer scrapping for everything.

Meanwhile, American Serena Williams and holder Jelena Jankovic moved into the quarterfinals of the Italian Open yesterday with wins over unseeded opponents.

Fifth seed Williams tamed lively Italian wildcard Sara Errani 6-4 6-3, while Serbian fourth seed Jankovic strolled past Russia's Maria Kirilenko 6-1 6-1.

Williams twice came back from a break down in the first set before taking Errani's serve in the final game with the help of two big smashes and a net-cord winner.

Worthy rival

Italy's last hope in the tournament also proved a worthy opponent in the second set, when former world No 1 Williams again recovered to clinch the match.

Jankovic played assured tennis, mixing her strokes well, but Kirilenko made some careless errors and at one stage blasted a ball into the stands in frustration.

Swiss ninth seed Patty Schnyder stayed on course for a quarterfinal with Maria Sharapova by edging a fine tussle with eighth-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 4-6 6-4 7-6.

Results

Hamburg Masters (third round, prefix number denotes seeding):

3-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 7-6(3) 6-3; 11-Carlos Moya (Spain) beat Marat Safin (Russia) 6-2 6-7(3) 6-1; 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Robin Soderling (Sweden) 6-3 6-2; Andreas Seppi (Italy) beat 12-Juan Monaco (Argentina) 6-0 6-3; Fernando Verdasco (Spain) beat 5-David Ferrer (Spain) 7-6(4) 6-2; Albert Montanes (Spain) beat Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) 6-2 6-1.

Italian Open (third round): 5-Serena Williams (US) beat Sara Errani (Italy) 6-4 6-3; 9-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) beat 8-Marion Bartoli (France) 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7); 4-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 6-1 6-1; 2-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 6-4 7-6(3).