Skip to main content
U.S. Edition
Search
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
WORLD SPORT

Top seeds all go through in Italy

story.nalbandian.gi.jpg
Nalbandian made it eight straight wins on his way to the quarters.

ROME, Italy -- Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal remain on course for a showdown in the final of the Rome Masters after they both enjoyed comfortable wins to reach the last eight.

World number one Federer brushed aside Radek Stepanek 6-1 6-4 and holder Nadal extended his unbeaten run on clay to 50 matches with a near-flawless display to beat Tim Henman 6-2 6-2.

They were joined in the quarterfinals by fourth seed David Nalbandian, who beat qualifier Alberto Martin 7-5 6-4.

Meanwhile, fifth seed Andy Roddick, knocked out Greg Rusedski 7-6 6-2 to guarantee his best finish in Rome since reaching the semi-finals four years ago.

"On grass, it's pretty simple: I'm just going to hit the ball pretty hard and try to get depth," Roddick said.

"Here, I've got to figure it out a little bit more with pace, varying shots, kind of play against my nature a little bit. It's frustrating at times, but it's also a fun challenge."

Czech Stepanek offered little resistance to Federer and made a succession of unforced errors to surrender the first set in 22 minutes.

He steadied himself in the second, but never looked likely to get back into the contest after dropping serve in the third game.

"He never really got close to my serve, and that made the match go so easy and so quick really," said Federer, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament.

He next plays Spanish qualifier Nicolas Almagro, who advanced when sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko retired injured after a set of their third-round match.

Most neutrals are already anticipating a Federer-Nadal final.

The Swiss has lost their last three meetings and asked what aspect of his game he needed to raise to beat Nadal, he replied: "I'll definitely have to improve things if I want to go extremely far here.

"But, you know, there's not much I'm doing wrong really. I'm playing very good from the baseline.

"Maybe I could concentrate a little bit more on my serve."

Nadal, meanwhile, was looking forward to his quarterfinal against 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez, who has won both their previous matches, the last two years ago. "It will be a tricky match but, you know, it is a long time since I played him. I think I have got a bit better since then," the 19-year-old Spaniard said.

While the spotlight remains fixed on the top two, Nalbandian has emerged as the player most likely to cause an upset.

The Argentine, winner of last week's claycourt event in Estoril, is set for a semifinal meeting with Federer, whom he has beaten in six of their 10 head-to-heads.

Before that, he must get past Croatia's Mario Ancic, who beat Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-3 6-7 7-5.

Story Tools
Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time! cover
Top Stories
Get up-to-the minute news from CNN
CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.
Top Stories
Get up-to-the minute news from CNN
CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.
 
 
 
 
CNN U.S.
CNN TV E-mail Services CNN Mobile CNNAvantGo Ad Info About Us Preferences
Search
© 2007 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map.
Offsite Icon External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pipeline Icon Pay service with live and archived video. Learn more
Radio News Icon Download audio news  |  RSS Feed Add RSS headlines