World No. 1 Rafael Nadal was handed a walkover into the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open on Thursday when his third-round opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber was forced out of the claycourt event with a left leg injury.
Nadal was joined in the last eight by world No. 2 Roger Federer, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over James Blake, and Andy Murray, who coped well with blustery conditions in the Magic Box stadium to dispatch Spanish 16th seed Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-1.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, chasing a fifth straight final appearance, also advanced with a routine 6-4, 6-4 victory over unseeded Italian Andreas Seppi.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Fans waiting to see local hero Nadal play Kohlschreiber on center court were handed a disappointment around three hours before the match was set to begin when the ATP announced the German had withdrawn.
The Mallorca native is bidding for a sixth title of the season and a fourth on clay and will play seventh-seeded compatriot Fernando Verdasco for a place in the last four.
Federer fell to Blake at last year’s Beijing Olympics and laid down a marker in the opening game against the American 14th seed, breaking serve with a crashing backhand return.
PHOTO: EPA
The 13-times grand slam winner, who has yet to win a title this year, wrapped up the victory with a fifth ace on his first match point and will play Andy Roddick in the next round.
The sixth-seeded American was also given a walkover when his opponent Nikolay Davydenko withdrew with a left leg injury.
“I didn’t really see it as a revenge match,” Federer said of the Blake clash. “The tennis wasn’t as good as in Beijing but I’m happy it was that easy. It was a solid performance.”
COMFORTABLE WIN
A single break of the Robredo serve in the 11th game of a tight first set and three more in the second were enough to seal a comfortable win for world No. 3 Murray and he converted his first match point with a backhand return down the line.
The Briton, who turned 22 yesterday, has never won a tour title on clay and is looking to improve his record on the surface ahead of the French Open, which starts later this month.
He will next play Juan Martin Del Potro after the Argentine fifth seed battled past 11th-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
World No. 4 Djokovic had a reasonably smooth passage against Seppi to set up a last-eight clash against wildcard Ivan Ljubicic, who battled back from a set down to beat eighth seed Gilles Simon 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
“I wish I’d had a withdrawal,” Djokovic said at a news conference. “As it was I had to work very hard.”
SAFINA STRUGGLES
In women’s play, world No. 1 Dinara Safina overcame a gutsy fightback from Lucie Safarova to beat the unseeded Czech 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 and seal a place in the last eight of the Madrid Open on Thursday.
The Russian raced through the first set but stumbled in the second to twice lose her serve before slipping 2-0 behind in the third.
Safina rallied to break back twice and wrapped up the win when Safarova sent a return over the baseline on the second match point.
Top seed Safina was set to play Alona Bondarenko yesterday for a place in the last four after the Ukrainian beat Russian Anna Chakvetadze 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 earlier on Thursday.
“I started very well, very aggressive, but then I just stopped and let her back in,” Safina told a news conference.
“All I can take from the match is how I played in the first set, which is how I should play all the time. I hope I play two sets like that in my next match,” she said.
Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic swept into the last eight with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over qualifier Elena Vesnina, another Russian.
The Serbian former world No. 1 had a slow start to the season when she struggled with her fitness and the distraction of her mother’s ill health, but seems to have regained her focus ahead of the French Open, which starts later this month.
Jankovic stuttered when serving for the match at 5-1 in the second set but broke Vesnina for the sixth time in the next game when the Russian failed to deal with a thumping backhand.
VYING FOR SEMIS
Swiss Patty Schnyder was set to play Jankovic yesterday for a place in the semi-finals.
Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo and Russian qualifier Vera Dushevina booked their places in the last eight on Wednesday.
Former No. 1 Mauresmo was to meet Hungarian Agnes Szavay yesterday and Dushevina was set to play Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
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