World number two Roger Federer enjoyed a comfortable 6-3 6-2 win over American qualifier Taylor Dent at the Sony Ericsson Open yesterday, setting up a quarter-final clash with local favourite Andy Roddick.
Dent, returning to the main tour after a career-threatening injury in 2007, showed plenty of fight but was never in danger of upsetting the Swiss right-hander, who won 83 percent of first service points.
Roddick, who is looking to capture a second Miami title after his 2004 triumph, made a slow start to his match against Gael Monfils before emerging with a 7-6 6-4 victory over the Frenchman.
The ninth-seeded Monfils had the chance to serve out the opening set when leading 6-5 but Roddick recovered the break and went on to win the tie-break 7-2.
The second set was easier for Roddick, who broke in the third game and comfortably held serve to secure victory.
Earlier, Britain's Andy Murray needed just 58 minutes to crush Serbian Viktor Troicki 6-1 6-0 in a surprisingly one-sided encounter.
The fourth-seeded Scot moves on to a quarter-final against Spain's Fernando Verdasco, who beat Czech Radek Stepanek 6-2 6-2. Murray will be looking for a measure of revenge against the eighth seed after losing to him at this year's Australian Open.
"I didn't make a lot of mistakes, won a high percentage of first serves and used my slice well. I just kept thinking all the way through the match," Murray told reporters.
"Right from the start, to get a break early that kind of set the tone for the rest of the match. He didn't really recover from that."
Serbia's third-seeded Novak Djokovic thrashed Czech Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-2 and will meet Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who rallied for a 6-7 6-3 6-2 win over compatriot Gilles Simon.
World number one Rafael Nadal was playing Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland later yesterday.
The winner of that tie will face Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro, a 6-3 6-2 victor over Spain's David Ferrer.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily April 1, 2009)
