Federer survives scare; Murray advances

World No 1 one Roger Federer had to work for his quarter-final berth at the Cincinnati Masters yesterday, while newly-minted No 2 Andy Murray cruised through with relative ease.

World No 1 one Roger Federer had to work for his quarter-final berth at the Cincinnati Masters yesterday, while newly-minted No 2 Andy Murray cruised through with relative ease.

Swiss top seed Federer rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Spain's David Ferrer, conquering not only the World No 19 but also the difficult, windy conditions to line up a meeting with Aussie Lleyton Hewitt.

Roger Federer

Hewitt overcame American Sam Querrey 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 to earn a shot at the Swiss superstar.

Murray, meanwhile, needed just 1hr 16min min to beat Czech Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-1. Federer stretched his career lead over Ferrer to 9-0, but for a while it looked like the Spaniard might notch that first win against his mighty opponent.

He broke Federer for a 5-3 lead, then held at love to pocket the first set.

Serena through
Second-seeded Serena Williams eased into the quarter-finals of the two million-dollar WTA hardcourt tournament here yesterday with a straight sets victory over Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko.

Williams, the reigning Wimbledon, Australian Open and US Open champion, needed only 64 minutes to subdue Bondarenko 6-1, 6-4.

The American exacted a bit of familial revenge after third-seeded Venus Williams was eliminated in the second round by Alona's sister, Kateryna Bondarenko.

Kateryna's run came to an end at the hands of 14th-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska.

Radwanska was up 7-5, 5-3 and 40-0 when rain stopped play, and when the match resumed she duly finished off a 7-5, 6-3 victory.

Paes-Dlouhy ousted
The third seed pair of Leander Paes and Loukas Dlouhy crashed out of the men's doubles second round at the Cincinnati Masters yesterday, going down against the Spanish pair of David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo. The Ferrer-Robredo combine demolished Paes and Dlouhy 6-2, 6-4 in 54 minutes. They will now face the American pair John Isner and Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals next.