Holder Rafael Nadal provided more evidence that he is regaining his old dominance on clay after an injury-hit season last year by cruising past Romania’s Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-2 at the Rome Masters on Thursday.
British world No. 5 Andy Murray struggled, however, losing 6-3, 6-4 to Nadal’s Spanish compatriot David Ferrer.
Nadal, who romped to his sixth consecutive Monte Carlo Masters title earlier this month, displayed superb movement throughout and got his first break in the fourth game with a sizzling return.
PHOTO: AFP
He produced stunning forehand winners on his way to going 4-1 ahead in the second set, then fended off Hanescu’s valiant attempts to pull back a break, before sealing victory with a smash at the net.
In the last eight, Nadal will meet Stanislas Wawrinka, who crushed Swede Robin Soderling 6-3, 6-2.
Murray had snapped a run of three defeats with victory over Italy’s Andreas Seppi on Tuesday, but he looked below his best in the third-round meeting with Ferrer. He got in fewer than a third of his first serves in the opening set, which 13th seed Ferrer sealed with a sweet drop volley after breaking in the sixth game.
The poor serving infected other parts of Murray’s game and he shook himself a few times, before conceding serve again in the seventh game of the second set. Clay specialist Ferrer served out to beat the Scot and set up a quarter-final with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
World No. 2 Novak Djokovic progressed too, with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Thomaz Bellucci that was harder than the score suggested.
Djokovic, the 2008 champion, had to come from a break down in each set against the Brazilian, who put up a lively display, but at times had trouble keeping his big serve under control. The Serbian will now meet in-form Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
Verdasco booked his place in the last eight with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) win over his compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
After turfing out world No. 1 Roger Federer on Tuesday, Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis scrambled past Italian wild-card Filippo Volandri.
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AFP, STUTTGART, GERMANY
Former world No. 1 Justine Henin had to dig deep on Thursday to book a quarter-final clash against Jelena Jankovic in Stuttgart.
Belgium’s Henin looked to be cruising to a win over compatriot Yanina Wickmayer after taking the first set with ease. Having raced to a 5-1 lead in the second, however, Henin faltered, allowing Wickmayer to win the next four games and draw level, before the former world No. 1 rallied and closed out the tie, winning 6-3, 7-5.
Henin will play fourth-seed Jankovic in the quarter-finals after the Serb beat Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2, 6-2.
Last year’s runner-up Dinara Safina played her first match since withdrawing from the Australian Open with a back injury, a second-round win over Agnes Szavay.
Safina needed more than two hours to see off her Hungarian opponent 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-0 to set up a quarter-final clash with Israel’s Shahar Peer, but the Russian admitted her back had troubled her.
Top seed and world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki was the biggest casualty of the day when she crashed out after suffering from a recurring ankle injury. The Danish teenager lost 6-4, 6-4 to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic in just 66 minutes.
Safarova will play qualifier Anna Lapushchenkova in the quarters after the Russian defeated sixth seed Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-3.
Australia’s Samantha Stosur survived a first-set scare to beat Romania’s Alexandra Dulgheru 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 and set up a quarter-final clash with China’s Li Na.
■GRAND PRIX SAR
AP, FEZ, MOROCCO
Romanian teenager Simona Halep reached her first career WTA Tour semi-final by stunning second-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) at the Grand Prix SAR on Thursday.
Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic achieved a similar feat to play in her first semi when she beat fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 7-5, 6-2.
Alize Cornet of France and Voracova’s compatriot, Iveta Benesova, also advanced to the last four. Benesova rallied past Laura Pous Tio of Spain 2-6, 6-1, 6-0, while Cornet beat Anne Keothavong of Britain 7-5, 6-2.
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