Federer rolls; Nadal barely reaches Dubai QFs
Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Three-time champion Roger Federer was a straight-set second-round winner, while reigning titlist Rafael Nadal went the distance to advance on Day 3 at the $1.5 million Dubai Tennis Championships.The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer got past Italian Daniele Bracciali 7-5, 6-3 to record his personal-best 38th straight match victory.Federer was last year’s Dubai runner-up to Nadal and captured this lucrative hardcourt event back-to-back-to-back from 2003-05.Federer’s quarterfinal opponent here on Thursday will be seventh-seeded
Serbian Novak Djokovic, who lost to the mighty Swiss in straight sets at the recent Australian Open.A second-seeded Nadal won his seventh straight match at this tournament by holding off dangerous Russian Igor Andreev 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2) at Dubai Tennis Stadium.The reigning two-time French Open champion Nadal, of Spain, will encounter last week’s Rotterdam titlist Mikhail Youzhny here on Thursday.Third-seeded world No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko was an upset victim on Day 3, as the gritty Russian succumbed to pesky Belgian Olivier Rochus 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. On Tuesday, Davydenko needed just under three hours to sneak past 35-year-old Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui in three sets.Fifth-seeded German Tommy Haas won his seventh straight match overall by handling Frenchman Florent Serra 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Haas is fresh off his title in Memphis, where he upended U.S. Open runner-up Andy Roddick in last week’s finale.In other action involving seeds, a surging Youzhny upended sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 and the aforementioned Djokovic topped German qualifier Rainer Schuettler 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.Two other results saw Swede Robin Soderling subdue Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 7-5 and Frenchman Fabrice Santoro stop his countryman Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-2. Simon titled in Marseille just two weeks ago.The other quarterfinals here will pit the hot Haas against Rochus and Soderling versus Santoro, the 2002 Dubai champion.This week’s titlist will collect $300,000.© 2007 The Sports Network