Federer, Nadal advance to Miami quarter-finals

Swiss Roger Federer cruised through while top seed Rafael Nadal survived a stiff challenge as both reached the quarter-finals of the ATP and WTA tournament on Tuesday with straight-set triumphs.

Federer rolled over American qualifier Taylor Dent 6-3, 6-2 while Spaniard Nadal was made to work for his 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4) win over Swiss No. 16 seed Stanislas Wawrinka.

Federer needed just 85 minutes to earn a berth in the final eight by ousting 27-year-old Dent who squandered eight break-point chances.

"I had to come up with some good passing shots to be able to make a difference," Federer said. "He might have got a bit tired towards the end."

Nadal needed two tiebreaks to beat the pesky Wawrinka in the two hour, 42 minutes marathon match. Wawrinka jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second set before Nadal clinched it 7-4 in the final tiebreak. Nadal and Wawrinka traded blows in the first set then Nadal stepped up his game in that tiebreak winning 7-2.

"Important win for me here. Very important," Nadal said. "To be in quarterfinals is always a good result.

"I was very focused and I played two good tiebreakers, so that's very good."

Russian eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova became the first semi-finalist in the women's draw by beating Danish 13th seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1.

MIAMI, AFP