April 21, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 03, 1428

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MONTE CARLO, April 20: Holder Rafael Nadal and world No 1 Roger Federer wasted no time in advancing to the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters Series on Thursday.

Spaniard Nadal, who extended his record winning streak on clay to 64 matches, took 62 minutes to demolish Belgian Kristof Vliegen 6-1, 6-1 while Federer eased past South Korean Lee Huyng-taik 6-4, 6-3 in 64 minutes to set up an encounter with claycourt specialist David Ferrer.

The 20-year-old Nadal next meets German qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber, who beat another qualifier, Guillermo Garcia Lopez of Spain, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6.

“I played a very good match. I served better than yesterday, I was moving better on the court,” said Nadal, who lost his serve in the first game of the second set before winning 21 points in a row.

“He's an excellent player, especially on clay. This is where he's got the most confidence, so it's going to be difficult for me to beat him here,” Federer said of Ferrer, who recovered from a sluggish start to knock out sixth seeded Serb Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-4.

The Spaniard has never won a set against Federer in their five previous meetings.

The Swiss, who arrived here with back-to-back defeats by Argentine Guillermo Canas in Miami and Indian Wells, broke decisively in the ninth game of the opening set to take control.

After that, Federer, who has 10 Grand Slams to his name but has yet to win the French Open, was untroubled.

“I think it was an average match from my side. Maybe it was just my timing at the beginning. I was just shanking a lot of balls and not able to keep the ball in play,” he said. “Once I was able to do that I was in total control.”

Former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain moved closer to the form that allowed him to win at Roland Garros four years ago to defeat Russian Igor Andreev 6-3, 6-3.

Ferrero takes on Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who battled two hours and 50 minutes to see off Croatian seventh seed Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-7, 7-5.

“I made a superb passing shot on match point,” Gasquet, seeded 11th, said in a courtside interview.

“We both fought until the end and that is what made this match a great one. I was tense in the second set, that is why I lost the tiebreak.”

Czech prospect Tomas Berdych fought back from a set down to advance with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over fifth seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo.

The 10th seed faces a last-eight encounter with Sweden's Robin Soederling, who had earlier battled to a 7-6, 6-2 victory over Max Mirnyi of Belarus.

The 21-year-old Berdych was overwhelmed by claycourt specialist Robredo in the opening set, which the Spaniard clinched in 36 minutes, before an early break in the second was enough to force a decider.

Berdych, who reached the fourth round at last year's French Open, broke twice and wrapped up the win on his first match point.

World number 28 Soederling recovered from an early break to force a tiebreak, which he won 7-5, before stepping up a gear in the second set.

Soederling converted three of his nine break chances in all to seal victory in 88 minutes on his first match point.

Thursday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Third round: Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) 5-7, 7-6 (6-4), 7-6 (7-4); 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) 6-1, 6-1; 11-Richard Gasquet (France) beat 7-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5; 16-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) beat Igor Andreev (Russia) 6-3, 6-3; 2-David Ferrer (Spain) beat 6-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 7-5, 6-4; 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Lee Hyung-taik (South Korea) 6-4, 6-3; 10-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat 5-Tommy Robredo (Spain)

1-6, 6-3, 6-2; Robin Soederling (Sweden) beat Max Mirnyi (Belarus) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.—Reuters