Nadal, Federer advance to quarters

DOHA, Qatar (AP):

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal overcame a second-set collapse to beat Lukas Lacko of Slovakia 7-6 (3), 0-6, 6-3 yesterday and join Roger Federer in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open.

Earlier, Federer beat fellow Swiss Marco Chiudinelli 7-6 (5), 7-5.

Nadal, who is also playing doubles with Marc Lopez, had a fever earlier this week and looked uncharacteristically slow and sluggish on court. In the second set, he won just five of 18 points on his serve - and 11 of 37 overall.

"It was a very difficult match," Nadal said. "I wasn't 100 per cent yesterday and it was the same today. I said that during the press conference yesterday. I was more tired after I played the doubles matches here. But I will not stop. I will play doubles."

It was only the 10th time in 575 career matches that Nadal lost a set 6-0 and the first since the decisive set of a final against Andy Murray at Rotterdam, Netherlands, in February 2009, when the Spaniard was bothered by a knee injury.

Federer needed a strong baseline game to overcome Chiudinelli and stay in the hunt for a third tournament title in Doha.

"It was an up-and-down match. I was a bit confused and lost focus (at the end of the first set), but I did well to concentrate better as the game went on," Federer said. "It's not easy to play (Chiudinelli) because we know each other's game quite well. But I am happy to advance here."

Today, Federer will play Viktor Troicki of Serbia in the quarter-finals of the season-opening tournament.