|
Federer, Nadal into quarters
02/04/2008 07:54 - (SA)
Miami - World number one Roger Federer rolled over unseeded Jose Acasuso 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 in a fourth-round match at the $3.8m ATP and WTA hard-court tournament on Tuesday.
The top seeded Swiss star has not gone this deep into a season without winning a championship since 2000 - the last year he failed to win a title.
Winning here would be nothing new to Federer, who claimed back-to-back titles at this men's and ladies' tournament from 2004-05.
The 26-year-old reached the fourth round here last year, but was upset by Guillermo Canas.
Second seed Rafael Nadal, who lost to Federer in the 2005 final, also reached the quarter-finals on Tuesday by beating 15th-seeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4 6-4.
The Spaniard owns a commanding 8-0 lead in the all-time series against Mathieu, who retired from their match at the Australian Open in January. Like Federer, Nadal has yet to win on tour this season.
Compatriot
Ninth-seeded American James Blake is through to the quarter-finals after claiming a 6-3 6-4 win over No. 27 Radek Stepanek.
Sixth seeded American Andy Roddick will try to join his compatriot in the last eight later on Tuesday when he takes on unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau, who upset countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Monday.
Roddick, who announced his engagement to swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker, won here in 2004 and is making his ninth-straight appearance.
Should he advance, Roddick will have to deal with Federer, who is 15-1 in their all-time series.
Russia's Dmitry Tursunov failed to move through as 10th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych claimed a 6-2 6-2 win in their fourth-round match.
On the women's side of the draw, Svetlana Kuznetsova spoiled an all-Williams semi-final.
Serving out
Hours after Serena Williams was victorious in her quarter-final, Kuznetsova defeated Venus Williams 6-4 6-4.
The Russian held serve throughout the first set, winning all 14 of her first-serve points. Tied at 3-3 in the second set, Kuznetsova broke Williams to go up 4-3 and ended up serving out for the match.
Williams was attempting to capture her fourth title at the event, having won the tournament in 1998, 1999 and 2001.
Younger sister Serena had held up her end of the bargain earlier on Tuesday with a 6-2 6-0 victory over top seed and world No. 1 Justine Henin.
Henin had won three straight in the series against Serena - claiming quarter-final victories at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open - but was outplayed by the American.
Serena, who beat Henin here in last season's championship match, captured three breaks in each set of the 80-minute match.
It was another tough loss for the 25-year-old Belgian, who was playing her first tournament since being upset by Francesca Schiavone in the quarter-finals at Dubai.
|
Rugby
