Djokovic thro' in Basel

Scott Williams

Defending champion Novak Djokovic and fourth seed Andy Roddick both reached the quarter-finals of the ATP Swiss Indoors after straight sets wins here on Thursday.

Second seed Djokovic won 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) against Finn Jarkko Nieminen, a losing finalist in 2007, having registered seven aces and converted a single break of serve.

Roddick dealt with an unknown quantity in Kazakh Andrey Golubev, winning 6-3, 6-4.

Djokovic, who interrupted the three-year title streak of Roger Federer here in 2009, will compete for a semi-final place against Dutchman Robin Haase.

Roddick takes on David Nalbandian, whom he last faced in 2006.

Quarter-finals

Nalbandian, the 2002 champion, reached the quarter-finals of one of his favourite events by upsetting Croatian sixth seed Marin Cilic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. In addition to the trophy he won on his Basel debut eight years ago, the Argentine has finished runner-up at the St Jakobshalle in 2003, 2004 and 2008.

He missed his annual appointment at the indoor event last year during a medical time-out following hip surgery in May 2009.

"I feel good now. Who can say 100 percent after an operation? But I made a good recovery," said the former world number three.

"I knew that if the surgery worked, I'd be back in tennis.

No choice

"If not, well... I had no choice, the hip pain was too much." Nalbandian said he was approaching the end of what he called a "strange season".

"I couldn't make a very clean start (in February) after my surgery," he said. "I had some muscular problems. But I played well during the American summer and started feeling better." PARIS, Friday, AFP