Defending champion Andy Murray won through to the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open on Thursday by beating Tommy Robredo of Spain 7-5, 6-1, while top-ranked Rafael Nadal also advanced after his opponent retired hurt. Nadal and sixth-seeded American Andy Roddick both advanced without having to hit a ball after their respective opponents - Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber and 10th-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko - withdrew with leg injuries. Second-seeded Roger Federer also made it to the quarters by beating 14th-seeded James Blake of the United States 6-2, 6-4. The last time the two met, in China, Blake ended Federer's hopes of capturing his first Olympic singles medal. “We haven't played since the Olympics and I was pleased with the way it went today, especially with him playing so well recently,” Federer said. Federer will next play Roddick. “I've played Andy so many times it's time we played each other on clay,” Federer said of his next opponent. Murray had failed to convert seven break points before finally getting the decisive breakthrough to go up 6-5 and then held serve to take the first set. Murray, who turns 22 on Friday, then began hitting long, accurate baseline shots and well-timed passers to dominate the second. Murray will face fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals after the Argentine needed four match points and three hours to hold off Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Third-seeded Novak Djokovic won against Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-4, 6-4. He will next play Croatian Ivan Ljubicic who put out French eighth seed Giles Simon 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. The quarterfinals lineup was: Nadal vs. Fernando Verdasco, Federer vs. Roddick, Djokovic vs. Ljubicic, and Murray vs. Juan Martin del Potro. On the upset-prone women's side, top-ranked Dinara Safina overcame a mid-match dip to beat Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the last eight. Safina played aggressively to win the first set against Lucie Safarova of the Czech Repubic to love. But Safina's concentration level then dropped and she lost the second 4-6 before sealing the match 6-3 in the third. “Suddenly I started to play passively, even fearing the way the wind changed,” Safina said. “Thankfully Safarova made some mistakes which let me win.” Jelena Jankovic also made it but No. 7-seeded Victoria Azarenka was beaten. Safina lined up a last-eight match with another unseeded player, Alona Bondarenko. The Ukrainian, a day after taking out No. 6 Svetlana Kuznetsova, beat Russia's Anna Chakvetadze 6-0, 2-6, 6-3. In other third-round matches, fourth-seeded Jankovic beat qualifier Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-2, 6-2, but Azarenka was downed by Agnes Szavay of Hungary 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark beat Alisa Kleybanova of Russia 6-2, 6-2. Wozniacki's victory guaranteed she will become first Dane to crack the top 10 world rankings next week, from her current No. 11.
