ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer swept into the ATP Masters Series Monte-Carlo quarterfinals on Thursday, following a 6-4, 6-3 win over Korean Hyung-Taik Lee in 65 minutes. Federer, who was beaten in last year’s final by Rafael Nadal, stands one victory away from reaching 500 career wins. The Swiss will next meet David Ferrer of Spain, who knocked out sixth-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-4.
It will be Federer's first ATP Masters Series quarterfinal appearance of the year following his shock early-round losses to Guillermo Canas at Indian Wells and Miami. The Swiss is attempting to win a seventh different ATP Masters Series title - a feat achieved only by Andre Agassi.
Federer went down an early break at 1-2 in the first set against Lee after missing all five first serves in his second service game. He then steadied, saving five of six break points during the match. Federer attacked the second serve of Lee, who won just three second serve points in the match.
Two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal has dropped just six games in his first two matches. The Spaniard, currently No. 2 in the ATP Rankings, extended his Open Era record-winning streak on clay to 64 matches with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Kristof Vliegen of Belgium on Thursday.
After dropping serve in the first game of the second set Nadal won 21 consecutive points and 24 of the last 26 points of the match to record a devastating victory. The last player to win three consecutive Monte-Carlo titles was Ilie Nastatse in 1971-73.
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