Nadal and Federer ease through in Madrid
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer had easy wins
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Thursday, 16, Oct 2008 10:08
Top seeds Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer strolled their way into the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters with easy wins today.
Nadal overcame talented Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-2, while Federer outclassed another Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 6-1.
Gasquet, who had lost his five previous meetings against the French Open and Wimbledon champion, got off to the worst possible start as he lost his opening service game of the match. That was the only opening Nadal needed as he comfortably held on to his serve to take the first set.
The second set was far easier for the Spaniard as a demoralised Gasquet offered very little resistance and saw his serve broken twice as Nadal took the set 6-2. The world number one will now face compatriot Felicino Lopez in the next round.
"It's going to be difficult to win (against Lopez), let's see if I am okay with my serve so that I can play more comfortably. That will be very important in order to win the match," said Nadal.
Federer faced a potentially tricky first encounter against Australian Open finalist Tsonga. The first set was very tight and Tsonga has a couple of break point chances, but the Frenchman shot himself in the foot as three double faults at 4-5 down gifted Federer the first set.
It was one-way traffic in the second set as Federer cruised it 6-1 to set up a mouth-watering match against rising star Juan Martin Del Potro.