31/10/08 03:18 GMTRoger Federer and Rafael Nadal both made it through to the last eight of the Paris Masters on Thursday with comfortable wins over Marin Cilic and Gael Monfils respectively.
Federer saw off Croatian Cilic 6-3 6-4 to set up a quarter-final meeting with James Blake and afterwards said: "It wasn't like it was the best match of my life, but it was a solid performance. I'm happy that I'm making the guys play on their serves. I'm sort of reading their serves the way I would like to."
Meanwhile, Nadal saved nine break points in his 6-3 6-2 win over Monfils and will face either Tomas Berdych and Nikolay Davydenko in the last eight. The result means Monfils can no longer qualify for the Masters Cup in Shanghai next month. But Andy Roddick will be there following his 6-3 7-5 victory over Gilles Simon. The win took the former US Open champion into the quarter-finals in the French capital and ensured he will be in the elite eight-man field in China. The big-serving Roddick, who slammed down 15 aces and held serve throughout, broke in the third and ninth games of the opening set to claim it 6-3. And although the second was a tighter affair, Roddick struck when it really mattered securing the only break of serve in the final game, clinching victory on his fifth match point when a Simon net cord looped out. Despite his loss, Frenchman Simon could grab one of the two remaining places in the Shanghai field but faces an anxious wait as other results in Paris will now decide his fate. That is also the case for Juan Martin Del Potro after he was beaten by defending Paris champion David Nalbandian in the last 16. The Argentine pair had split two matches over the previous two weeks in Madrid and Basel, but on this occasion Nalbandian cruised to a 6-4 6-0 victory. The win keeps Nalbandian's outside hopes of a Masters Cup spot alive. He will now play Briton Andy Murray in Friday's quarter-finals.
Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gained the win he needed to stay in with a shout of joining Roddick in Shanghai by knocking out third seed Novak Djokovic, the man who beat him in Melbourne at the start of the year. Tsonga won a see-saw encounter 6-4 1-6 6-3 and now meets Roddick. Djokovic had already qualified for Shanghai. James Blake is another player still in with a chance of making the season-ending bonanza in China, although like Tsonga and Nalbandian he needs to reach the final in Paris to do so. He moved a step closer to that goal with a 6-4 6-4 triumph over Philipp Kohlschreiber on Thursday but will now have to beat US Open champion Roger Federer in the last eight.
In the doubles competition, Briton Jamie Murray and partner Pavel Vizner bowed out with a 7-5 7-5 second-round defeat to South African sixth seeds Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie.
Federer saw off Croatian Cilic 6-3 6-4 to set up a quarter-final meeting with James Blake and afterwards said: "It wasn't like it was the best match of my life, but it was a solid performance. I'm happy that I'm making the guys play on their serves. I'm sort of reading their serves the way I would like to."
Meanwhile, Nadal saved nine break points in his 6-3 6-2 win over Monfils and will face either Tomas Berdych and Nikolay Davydenko in the last eight. The result means Monfils can no longer qualify for the Masters Cup in Shanghai next month. But Andy Roddick will be there following his 6-3 7-5 victory over Gilles Simon. The win took the former US Open champion into the quarter-finals in the French capital and ensured he will be in the elite eight-man field in China. The big-serving Roddick, who slammed down 15 aces and held serve throughout, broke in the third and ninth games of the opening set to claim it 6-3. And although the second was a tighter affair, Roddick struck when it really mattered securing the only break of serve in the final game, clinching victory on his fifth match point when a Simon net cord looped out. Despite his loss, Frenchman Simon could grab one of the two remaining places in the Shanghai field but faces an anxious wait as other results in Paris will now decide his fate. That is also the case for Juan Martin Del Potro after he was beaten by defending Paris champion David Nalbandian in the last 16. The Argentine pair had split two matches over the previous two weeks in Madrid and Basel, but on this occasion Nalbandian cruised to a 6-4 6-0 victory. The win keeps Nalbandian's outside hopes of a Masters Cup spot alive. He will now play Briton Andy Murray in Friday's quarter-finals.
Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gained the win he needed to stay in with a shout of joining Roddick in Shanghai by knocking out third seed Novak Djokovic, the man who beat him in Melbourne at the start of the year. Tsonga won a see-saw encounter 6-4 1-6 6-3 and now meets Roddick. Djokovic had already qualified for Shanghai. James Blake is another player still in with a chance of making the season-ending bonanza in China, although like Tsonga and Nalbandian he needs to reach the final in Paris to do so. He moved a step closer to that goal with a 6-4 6-4 triumph over Philipp Kohlschreiber on Thursday but will now have to beat US Open champion Roger Federer in the last eight.
In the doubles competition, Briton Jamie Murray and partner Pavel Vizner bowed out with a 7-5 7-5 second-round defeat to South African sixth seeds Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie.
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