 Nadal, Djokovic race into Shanghai QFs
2009-10-15 11:36:00
Shanghai, China (Sports Network) - Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal and last week's Beijing titlist Novak Djokovic notched easy third-round wins Thursday at the $5.25 million Shanghai ATP Masters. The top-seeded and former world No. 1 Nadal handled 14th-seeded fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour, 33 minutes, while a second-seeded Djokovic drubbed German qualifier Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour, 24 minutes on the hardcourts at Qi Zhong Tennis Center, the former site of the ATP's Tennis Masters Cup. Nadal is now a perfect 5-0 lifetime against Robredo. The hot Djokovic is fresh off his hardcourt title last week in Beijing.
The six-time major champion Nadal will meet former top-10 star Ivan Ljubicic in Friday's quarterfinals, while Djokovic will face eighth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon, a titlist in Thailand just two weeks ago. The Croatian Ljubicic was ahead of 11th-seeded Gael Monfils 6-2, 3-0 when the Frenchman retired with a back injury. Simon dismissed Czech Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-4 on Day 5.
Fifth-seeded French star Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was cooled off on Thursday, as last week's Tokyo champ succumbed to ninth-seeded French Open runner-up Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-3, 6-3. Soderling upended Tsonga in 69 minutes with the help of four service breaks in nine tries.
The currently world No. 11 Soderling has been one of the hottest players on tour over the last four months.
Soderling's quarterfinal opponent will be Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, a 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 winner against Austrian and fellow lefthander Jurgen Melzer.
One other quarter will pit sixth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko against 13th-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek. Davydenko held off 10th-seeded Chilean slugger Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 7-5, while Stepanek was leading Stanislas Wawrinka 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 4-2 when the Swiss retired due to an abdominal strain.
Five other players retired from matches with a variety of injuries this week, as U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick, Germans Tommy Haas and Mischa Zverev and Argentine Jose Acasuso exited the draw due to ailments. World No. 1 superstar Roger Federer and No. 3 Andy Murray pulled out of the Shanghai draw before the event commenced.
This inaugural tournament closes out a three-week Asian swing on the ATP and the winner will take home $616,500. It serves as the penultimate Masters event, with the last one coming in Paris next month.
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