Shanghai Masters | Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal enter quarter-finals
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer breezed into the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Thursday beating Fabio Fognini and Alexandr Dolgopolov respectively. US Open semi-finalist Juan Martin del Potro also booked a place in the last eight with a win over third-seeded German Alexander Zverev.
Rafael Nadal continued his good form in Shanghai beating Italian Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-1 to set up a quarter-final clash against sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov. The win has also boosted his chances of finishing year-end No. 1 in the ATP Rankings for the fourth time in his career.
Nadal dominated the proceedings from the outset and opened up a 3-0 lead before taking the set 6-3 in a 31-minute contest. In the second set, the left-hander broke immediately and despite the Italian earning two break point opportunities at 1-3 to get back on serve, Nadal quickly turned them away and went on to close out the game in 62 minutes. This is Nadal's fourth quarter-final entry in Shanghai as he pursues his first title at the event.
Roger Federer, too, is right on track for a second Shanghai Masters title after securing a straightforward 6-4, 6-2 win against Dolgopolov. The Swiss took three of his seven break opportunities against Dolgopolov and faced just one break point before winning the first set 6-4. But when the Ukrainian made an error to go down a break point at 2-2 in the second set, the 19-time Grand Slam champion hardly broke a sweat after that and closed out the game to enter the last eight.
Meanwhile, 16th-seed del Potro knocked out third-seeded German Alexander Zverev, who struck 22 aces, 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in one hour and 56 minutes. The Argentine is now 4-9 in 2017 against players in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings. Del Potro, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2013 Shanghai final, will next meet Viktor Troicki, who defeated 12th-seeded John Isner 6-4, 7-6(4) to advance to his first quarter-final in Shanghai.
Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov improved his chances of reaching the ATP World Tour Finals with a straight-set win over American Sam Querrey. Dimitrov, ranked ninth in the world, won the match 6-3 7-6 (7-3). Similarly, fourth seed Marin Cilic won 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 against Steve Johnson, setting up a last-eight match against Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who beat Jan-Lennard Struff in the round of 16.
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