Monte Carlo Masters: Roger Federer rolls on to enter quarters as Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal tested
French eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will face Roger Federer in quarter-finals.
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Monte Carlo: Roger Federer showed improving fitness during his comeback week after February knee surgery, with the four-time Monte Carlo Masters finalist rolling smoothly into the quarter-finals over Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday.
Federer said that his second win in three days in the Principality has left him feeling that his fitness is approaching 100 per cent.
"As long as I can go into a match feeling like I`m all right and not thinking about the knee, it`s all good.
"Even if it would flare up and I couldn`t play tomorrow, I have a lot of information out of this tournament. I`m getting closer to the peak in the sense of maximum movement against the best players on a tough surface.
"Everything that`s going on right now at this tournament is great. I can rest for the next couple of weeks anyway.
"Even if I get a setback of a couple of days that the knee is not well, you rest it, take up training, take as much time as you need. I feel like I`m in a great place right now."
Andy Murray fought though a roller-coaster finish while Rafael Nadal had to hold off a young pretender as both seeds managed challenging third-round wins.
Murray, seeded second and target man after the second-round elimination of Novak Djokovic, scratched out a narrow 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 win over Benoit Paire.Nadal, the eight-time tournament winner, had to save 15 break points against Dominic Thiem to avoid a second upset loss this season to the 22-year-old Austrian talent.
The Spanish fifth seed finally prevailed 7-5, 6-3 in two hours to put behind a semi-final loss he took against Thiem two months ago in Buenos Aires on clay.
"It was my best match on clay this year," Nadal said. "I played a good match, in terms of level of tennis, was great I think.
"In terms of fighting spirit and attitude and being ready to accept the mistakes, the good points, the tough moments, it was similar way that I played in Indian Wells (he reached the semi-finals).
"It was a great continuation against a very tough player. I think he played a great match, too. It was a very good victory for me, I`m very happy for that."
Nadal will next face reigning French Open champion Stan Wawrinka, who put away Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-1, 6-2. Murray will take on the big serve of Milos Raonic after the Canadian defeated Bosnian Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5).
Murray stands 5-4 over Raonic, and defeated the Canadian in an Australian Open semi-final in January.
Murray made a recovery from a set and two breaks down in the second set and called his victory "a big win".
"To win from 6-2, 3-0 down, two breaks, when you`re not playing particularly well, it`s a great effort. These matches are important.
"It would have been easy to lose today and get down on myself. But I kept fighting right the way through to the end," said Murray.
"The second set was a lot of ups and downs. I didn`t feel like in the third set that was the case so much. It was a good one to get through because I could have easily lost today."
Murray, a 2009 and 2011 semi-finalist, is into his third quarter-final of the season.
French eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will face Federer after defeating countryman Lucas Pouille 6-4, 6-4 while Marcel Granollers put out 11th seed David Goffin of Belgium, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4.
Gael Monfils humiliated Czech Jiri Vesely 6-1, 6-2 after the outsider shocked Dokovic in the second round.
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