ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer edged past Robin Soderling of Sweden 7-6(5), 7-6(3) for a place in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid on Thursday.
Federer extends his winning streak to 16 matches, that includes titles at the US Open last month (d. Roddick) and Tokyo two weeks ago (d. Henman). He also has a 13-match winning streak against Swedes, dating back to March 2002 when he lost in the quarterfinals at Indian Wells to Thomas Enqvist.
The Swiss is only one win away from reaching 80 this year (79-5). This would be his second straight year at 80 or above, as he went 81-4 in 2005. The last player to win 80 matches two years in a row was Ivan Lendl, who went 96-14 in 1981 and 106-9 in 1982.
Federer, who has won nine titles this year, four more than Rafael Nadal (pictured) and James Blake, will meet American Robby Ginepri in the quarterfinals.
Defending champion Nadal beat No. 13 seed Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3 in 88 minutes for a place in the last eight during the evening session. Nadal had previously won their only other career meeting at an ATP Masters Series event in Cincinnati this summer.
Nadal won 27 of 30 of points on first serve and broke Haas three times to extend his hard-court record this year to 23-7, which includes one ATP title at Dubai in March (d. Federer). He is 57-9 overall in 2006.
The ATP World No. 2 will play Czech Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals. Berdych won their last career meeting at ATP Masters Series Canada in three sets.
Serb Novak Djokovic rallied from a set down to defeat fellow young rising star Andy Murray 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 and advance to his first Masters Series quarterfinal of the year.
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