Nadal, Djokovic advance to Rome Masters quarters; Murray, Soderling lose

more images

more images

Nadal, Djokovic advance at Rome Masters

ROME — Rafael Nadal improved his record at the Rome Masters to 24-1 with a methodical 6-3, 6-2 win Thursday against 39th-ranked Victor Hanescu.

The four-time winner in Rome saved all five break points late in the match, including one when he was serving for the match.

He set up match point with a long rally that included a rush to the net and back to the baseline to chase down a lob with an over-the-shoulder shot, finally setting up a volley winner into the open court.

Nadal closed it with an overhead smash on his first match point.

“I played with less intensity after 4-1 and it’s impossible to play with less intensity at this level,” Nadal said. “I had some problems the last two games with myself, but I saved it.”

He will face Stanislas Wawrinka, the 2008 runner-up, who took out Robin Soderling 6-3, 6-2.

Second-ranked Novak Djokovic defeated Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-4, and will meet Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals. Verdasco edged Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 7-6 (2) to improve his record to 13-2 on clay this year.

David Ferrer earned his tour-best 21st win on clay this year, stopping Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4.

“I didn’t make enough returns and his serve had a very high percentage,” said Murray, who failed to convert all three of his break points. “That was a big disappointment that I wasn’t able to convert more break-point opportunities — that’s usually the best part of my game.”

Murray has never won more than two matches at this warmup for the French Open, which begins May 23.

Djokovic will look to avenge his defeat to Verdasco in the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters two weeks ago.

“I’ve played a lot of matches against him on different surfaces and I’ve won most of them,” Djokovic said of his 5-3 record against Verdasco.

Djokovic said the Monte Carlo match “wasn’t a real picture of my game. I didn’t feel good on the court and made a lot of unforced errors.”

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also advanced by beating Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo 6-3, 6-4, while Ernests Gulbis followed up his upset win over Roger Federer with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4) victory over Italian wild-card Filippo Volandri and a partisan crowd.

The 21-year-old Gulbis will meet Feliciano Lopez, who advanced when 11th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic aggravated a muscle in his side during the pre-match warmup.

Djokovic got in just 57 percent of his first serve attempts, but committed half as many unforced errors against the 28th-ranked Bellucci.

“I was down a break every set and it wasn’t easy to get back on serve,” Djokovic said. “He served well — very accurately — and got a lot of free points.”

Djokovic is aiming to reach his third consecutive final in Rome, winning in 2008 and losing to Rafael Nadal last year.