April 30th, 2009 
Lovely Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic both advanced to the Rome Masters quarterfinals with straight set in today match. Federer eased to a 6-4 6-1 victory and a place in the last eight as he chases a first-ever Rome title. Djokovic had an even easier time with 13th-seeded Tommy Robredo, winning 6-1, 6-1.
Also advancing were No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro, No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez, and Argentine qualifier Juan Monaco. Later, three-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal was to face Robin Soderling of Sweden. Federer said conditions were a touch slower than when he played Stepanek last year, and he could read his opponent’s serve better.
Federer and Djokovic
“I told myself I have to be very disciplined in my playing today, the way I play my tactical game against him and just the way I have to focus. Last year I got a little bit unsure about my own game and he played well, and then I was not 100 percent sure of what I wanted to do. I had the control from the baseline. I’m really happy with the performance today. It’s just important that I work hard and get back to my best. I know I’m very close to it. I didn’t care how high my first serve percentage was, as long as I was winning. But it’s definitely something I have to do better in the next match, Federer said. Next up for Federer is German qualifier Mischa Zverev, who surprised eighth seed Gilles Simon 6-4 6-1.
Djokovic needs to defend his title at this clay court warmup for the French Open to prevent Andy Murray from taking the No. 3 ranking from him, even though Murray was eliminated by Monaco on Wednesday. He began working with Thomas Muster’s old trainer, Gebhard Phil-Gritsch, last week, and kept his level high from start to finish against Robredo, despite rain falling in the second set.n “I felt quite good,” Djokovic said. “I had a day off yesterday, which helped me to recover from the late night second round and just get some more practice.”
Djokovic has won his past five matches against Robredo, who leads the tour with 19 wins on clay this year. “It was quite strange because Tommy was making a lot of unforced errors, so he didn’t put a lot of pressure on me,” Djokovic said. Djokovic will face fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina,who defeated Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-3.
Fellow Argentine Juan Monaco, conqueror of Andy Murray, beat Marin Cilic 6-4 6-4 to set up a clash with 12th seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who battled past Juergen Melzer 3-6 6-3 7-5.
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