Dubai: Defending champion Roger Federer eased into the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships on Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Marcel Granollers of Spain.
The second-ranked Federer was joined by Juan Martin del Potro and Tomas Berdych who also won in straight sets. Berdych saved 12 of 14 break points to beat Tobias Kamke of Germany 7-5, 6-1, and Del Potro defeated Somdev Devvarman of India 6-4, 6-4 before hitting a few balls with Argentina football great Diego Maradona.
Federer looked much more confident than he did in his opening, three-set victory over Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri. His serve was almost untouchable — he won 84 percent of first serve points — and he was much more aggressive, winning several key points at the net.
The 17-time Grand Slam winner broke the 34th-ranked Spaniard to go up 4-2 on the way to winning the first set. Federer broke a second time to make it 3-2 in the second and closed It out with a dominant serving game — including an ace and a final serve that Granollers returned wide.
"The last four sets have been pretty good, you know, so I'm happy I bounced back after a rough opening first set here in the first round," Federer said. "I think I was sharper today. I had a more, clear plan. I knew what I could and couldn't do."
Federer will next face Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, who beat Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-4, 7-6 (2). Federer has an 18-2 record against the Russian and hasn't lost to him since 2010 in Qatar. But the Swiss star said he still had to be ready for a player who once was ranked third before sustaining a series of injuries.
"I'll never disrespect a guy like Nikolay. He's done too much in the game," he said. "That's why I know it's a dangerous round next match... I know what he can do on his absolute best day because I was one of the guys that got crushed by him as well during that time."
ndtv.com
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