By DPA
Cincinnati (Ohio) : Roger Federer beat what he considered minor heat as he came through against demoralized Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 here to reach the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters.
The top seed and 2005 champion is focusing on a win to rebound from Sunday’s final loss in Montreal to Serb Novak Djokovic.
While Thursday’s 40-degree Celsius heat drained many players, Federer’s habit of training in Dubai left him all but immune to the sweltering Midwest.
“The problem is more the humidity. The sweat is all over. The hand gets wet, and it’s hard to hold the grip,” he said. “Dubai was way hotter than this today, so this is actually pretty mild.”
Federer has beaten Baghdatis in all five of their meetings, including last year’s Australian Open final.
“It was a struggle out there for both of us,” said the Swiss superstar. “Jeez, it was tough to keep the ball in play, you know. I’m just really happy I came through. I can’t believe it was two sets.”
Baghdatis missed on four set points in the first, then failed to capitalise on a break while Federer was serving for victory in the second.
Nerves prevailed, with Federer going through in just under 90 minutes.
A trio of Spaniards advanced to the last eight in the sweltering heat.
David Ferrer led the way with his 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 upset of third-seeded Andy Roddick. The American defending champion delivered just nine aces and was unable to tame the 16th seed.
After losing early last week in Montreal, Roddick is in crisis heading into the US Open starting Aug 27. His coach, Jimmy Connors, is home in California but will have certainly been providing help by telephone.
“I wasn’t imposing myself, and I was giving away free points,” said Roddick, twice champion here.
“All the way around it was a pretty ordinary performance. This week was poor, but the good news is you have time to work. We have eight, nine days to get on the practice court.”
Ferrer, winner of titles this season in Auckland and Bastad, saved three break points and has been broken only once all week.
Carlos Moya followed up for Spain as he defeated Argentine teenager Juan del Potro 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. Nicolas Almagro joined in, putting out Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 6-2.
Moya, 30, will face off in the quarter final against Australian Lleyton Hewitt, another former number one who is reconstructing his career. The unseeded Hewitt defeated Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-3.
The matchup with Moya will be a replay of the 2002 Cincinnati final won by the Spaniard, and Moya recalled “great memories here five years ago”.
Hewitt leads Moya 6-5 in their career meetings, though they have not faced each other across the net since 2004.
“Obviously every match is a different story, but I think it’s going to be a great match. I’m really looking forward to that. It’s a match that gives you motivation,” Moya said.
American Sam Querrey reached his fourth quarter final of the season and second in a month with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Juan Monaco.