Top seeds advance to quarter-finals

The day began with a match between No. 5 Robin Soderling and Argentina's David Nalbandian. The Swede had his work cut out for him as Nalbandian has been on a tear as of late. Nalbandian, fresh from capturing his eleventh ATP World Tour title on Sunday in Washington, entered this year's Rogers Cup presented by National Bank on a 9-match win streak which has now been extended to 11. Soderling served a strong match with 14 aces, but succumbed to Nalbandian on 6 of 9 break points to lose the match 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.

Tomas Berdych handed Alexandr Dolgopolov a 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-4 loss in the 21-year-old's fourth appearance at an ATP World Tour competition, ending his longest run thus far in a Masters 1000 tournament. The 21-year-old Ukrainian played a strong second round, but ultimately could not compete with the No. 7 seed.

Roger Federer showed Michael Llodra why he is the No. 3 player in the world by eliminating the Frenchman in straight sets 7-6 (2), 6-3. Federer, the 2004 and 2006 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank champion will take on Berdych tomorrow in a rematch of the Wimbledon quarter-finals where Berdych was the upset winner.

Reigning champion Andy Murray took on No. 15 Gael Monfils this afternoon. Murray entered the match with an upper hand and a 2-1 head-to-head lead against the Frenchman. Despite losing a 6-0 second set, Murray prevailed in three 6-2, 0-6, 6-3. The Brit will make all attempts to end Nalbandian's winning streak tomorrow when the two face-off.

Novak Djokovic remained unbeatable against Victor Hanescu by increasing his wins over the Romanian to five with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. The No. 2 seed will take on Jeremy Chardy in the Frenchman's first quarter-final appearance at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event. Chardy upset No. 6 seed Nikolay Davydenko in an easy straight sets victory 6-3, 6-2.

In the final match of the day, World No. 1 Rafael Nadal played his first ever match against South African Kevin Anderson. Anderson set an ATP World Tour record by qualifying into the main draw of eight tournaments this year. Nadal, the 2005 and 2008 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank champion, entered the match having won 32 of his past 33 matches since April. Nadal finished off Anderson with ease in a 6-2, 7-6(6) victory. The Spaniard will play Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany tomorrow to compete for a spot in the semifinals on Saturday.

With all four of the top seeds advancing, anything is possible as the quarterfinals of Rogers Cup presented by National Bank are set for Friday.

Source: rogerscup.com