Hamburg, Germany (My Sportsbook) - Reigning champion Roger Federer,
clay-court king Rafael Nadal and Australian Open titlist Novak Djokovic were
easy quarterfinal winners Friday at the $2.955 million Masters Series
Hamburg, a clay-court French Open tuneup.
The top-seeded Federer blew past Spanish lefthander Fernando Verdasco
6-3, 6-3, while the second-seeded Nadal floored his 11th-seeded close friend
and fellow Mallorcan Carlos Moya 6-1, 6-3 and a third-seeded Djokovic stayed
hot by dousing Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-3 on Day 6 at Rothenbaum. The
high-flying Djokovic was last week's clay-court champion in Rome and will
battle Nadal in a marquee semifinal here on Saturday.
The reigning Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Federer beat Nadal in last
year's Hamburg finale to capture his fourth title here in six years (2002,
2004-05, 2007).
Federer, who is now a stellar 28-3 lifetime at this event, will face Italian
Andreas Seppi on Saturday. Seppi took out heavy German crowd favorite Nicolas
Kiefer 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.
The 26-year-old Federer is 1-0 lifetime against Seppi, with the win coming on
red clay in Monte Carlo last year.
The three-time French Open champion Nadal, who has to beat Djokovic on
Saturday in order to retain his world No. 2 ranking, is 6-3 lifetime against
the surging Serb, including a semifinal victory in a Masters Series tournament
at Indian Wells earlier this season.
Nadal is a remarkable 106-2 in his last 108 matches on clay.
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