Federer sinks Wawrinka to reach last eight

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:44

Federer, playing in his first Tour event since regaining his Wimbledon crown and becoming a dad to twin daughters, came through 6-3 7-6 and will next face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, also ensuring that the last eight is occupied by the top eight seeds.

Frenchman Tsonga, seeded seventh, proved too good for compatriot Gilles Simon and prevailed in straight sets, 6-3 6-3.

Rafael Nadal completed the first full match of his comeback from a knee injury lay-off to beat German Philipp Petzschner 6-2 6-3.

The Majorcan’s first match ended prematurely on Wednesday, with David Ferrer limping off with a leg injury in their second-round clash after seven games of the first set.

Nadal will next face sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro, who defeated Victor Hanescu of Romania 3-6 6-3 6-4.

American Andy Roddick had to dig deep to see off the challenge of Fernando Verdasco to progress to the quarter-finals. The world number five required two tie-breaks to see off his 10th-ranked opponent, eventually prevailing 7-6 (7/2) 4-6 7-6 (7/5).

In a match that lasted two hours and 37 minutes, Roddick’s normally impenetrable serve was broken twice, first in the 10th game of the second set to pull Verdasco level in the match, and again when Roddick was serving for the match at 5-4 in the third.

Roddick held his nerve in the subsequent tie-break, however, to set up a last-eight encounter with world number four Novak Djokovic, who had earlier become the first player to qualify for the quarter-finals when he ousted Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-4.

Andy Murray overcame Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets and will take on Nikolay Davydenko, who did not drop a set in his win over Fernando Gonzalez.

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here