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Easy victory for Nadal
05/03/2008 22:22 - (SA)
Dubai - Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick reached the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday.
The second-ranked Nadal easily beat Mikhail Ledovskikh of Russia 6-4 6-0, while Djokovic beat Fabrice Santoro of France 6-3 7-6 (3) and Murray defeated Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3 3-6 7-6 (5)
"Today, I didn't know this player, but he has a very good potential," Nadal said of his 171st-ranked opponent.
Santoro beat Djokovic at the Paris Masters in October, and the Australian Open champion thought he was going to lose to the Frenchman again on Wednesday.
"I started losing my hair in the second set. But it was OK, you know, to play such a magician with a racket," Djokovic said. "He's a very special player and for me it was an honour to play again against him."
In the quarter-finals, Djokovic will face Igor Andreev of Russia, who beat Richard Gasquet of France 6-3 6-4.
Murray, who beat top-ranked Roger Federer on Monday in the first round, led 6-2 in the third-set tiebreaker but needed four match points to win. Verdasco finally hit the ball long after a lengthy rally.
"It was a pretty ugly point, actually," Murray said. "I was just making sure I kept the ball in play, because I think he's the sort of guy if you can make a lot of balls against him, keep him in the back of the court, he can get a bit impatient, and luckily he missed one at the end."
Murray said he had to overcome a sore knee in the second set and gusty wind to earn the win.
"I'm just really happy with the way I've fought, after beating Federer," Murray said. "It was really windy and I didn't hit the ball clear at all."
Fourth-seeded David Ferrer also advanced, beating Olivier Rochus of Belgium 3-6 7-5 6-1, while fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko defeated Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic 6-1 6-4, and Feliciano Lopez of Spain upset eighth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-2 7-5.
- AP
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