Roger Federer beat Juan Martin Del Potro 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals at his home tournament, the Swiss Indoors.
Federer, who won three Grand Slams this year but lost the Madrid Masters final last Sunday, is seeking his seventh tournament title of the year.
"I came out of the blocks really fast today, and he missed some shots at the start," Federer said. "It's a little bit difficult with so many family and friends here, but I am beginning to get comfortable."
Federer will next play Nicolas Kiefer, who beat Stefan Koubek 6-3, 6-2.
Ivo Karlovic rallied to beat fourth-seeded James Blake 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, serving 24 aces, to also reach the quarter-finals.
Karlovic, the tallest man on the tour at 2.08m, is having his best season with three titles and is also second on the all-time list for aces in a season behind Goran Ivanisevic.
"I could serve with a basketball," Karlovic said when asked if he had trouble with somewhat heavier balls used at the Swiss Indoors.
Blake was unable to break Karlovic's serve in the last two sets and dropped to 1-3 against the Croat in career matches.
Blake and Karlovic are two of 20 players still with a chance to qualify for the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai next month. Five players already have qualified for Shanghai: Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko and Andy Roddick. Three berths remain open.
Second-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, who is also seeking a spot in Shanghai, beat Roko Karanusic 6-4, 7-6 (5), but sixth-seeded Guillermo Canas lost to Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych defeated Stanislas Wawrinka 7-5, 6-4.
Also, eighth-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu beat Andrey Golubev 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-1 and Marcos Baghdatis defeated Agustion Calleri 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-3.
In the quarter-finals, Gonzalez plays Nieminen, Berdych meets Karlovic and Mathieu goes against Baghdatis.
AP, ST PETERSBURG, Russia
Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, already interviewed over a suspicious match earlier in the year, said he was warned for not playing hard enough by the chair umpire in his three-set loss to Marian Cilic at the St Petersburg Open on Thursday.
Davydenko won the first set in 27 minutes, but drew a rebuke from chair umpire Jean-Philippe Dercq in the third set before succumbing 1-6, 7-5, 6-1.
"When I made a double fault, he gave me a notice for a wrong behavior on the court as if I was throwing the match," Davydenko said. "I was surprised. I've never heard anything like this before. No matter how I'd played, no matter what had happened to me, I was never given such a notice."
The ATP is investigating, and has spoken to Davydenko about a match in August on which online gambling site Betfair voided bets because of irregular betting patterns. The Russian withdrew from that match against 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello in the third set because of a foot injury.
Cilic's victory was the second in seven weeks against Davydenko.
In a later match, No. 2 seed Andy Murray beat Czech qualifier Lukas Dlouhy 6-2, 6-4.
Earlier on Thursday, No. 3 seed Mikhail Youzhny beat Mario Ancic 6-4, 6-2, and fourth-seeded Potito Starace defeated qualifier Mikhail Ledovskikh 7-6 (4), 6-2. Sixth seed Fernando Verdasco also reached the quarter-finals, ousting Simone Bolelli 6-4, 6-4.
Olivier Rochus of Belgium overcame 43 aces by the US' Mardy Fish on Thursday to advance 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (15) to the Lyon Grand Prix quarter-finals.
After the three-hour victory, Rochus moves on to face France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who ousted fourth-seeded countryman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4.
No. 5 seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia fired off 34 aces en route to beating France's Thierry Ascione 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5).
Ljubicic will face Colombia's Alejandro Falla, who needed just 44 minutes to dispatch Oliver Marach of Austria, 6-2, 6-1.
In an all-French matchup, Julien Benneteau defeated No. 8 seed Gilles Simon 7-5, 6-4. He will move on to face Sebastien Grosjean, who beat Fabrice Santoro 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Marion Bartoli beat Tamira Paszek 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the Generali Ladies.
Bartoli next will play Julia Vakulenko, who saved 10 of 11 break points to defeat Ai Sugiyama 6-0, 6-2.
Earlier on Thursday, second-seeded Daniela Hantuchova beat Gisela Dulko 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals.
Hantuchova advanced to face Alona Bondarenko, who beat Eleni Daniilidou 6-4, 6-3. Also advancing was Nicole Vaidisova, who beat Yvonne Meusburger 6-3, 6-1.
Sixth-seeded Patty Schnyder, who was a Linz finalist two years ago, defeated Alicia Molik 6-4, 6-4.
Schnyder's next opponent is the top-seeded Anna Chakvetadze.
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