Federer earns 500th career win; Nadal rolls in Monte Carlo (Roundup)

Apr 20, 2007, 19:20 GMT

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball during his quarter-final match against David Ferrer of Spain at the ATP Master Series Monte Carlo Open tennis tournament in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, 20 April 2007. EPA/CHRISTOPHE KARABA

Monte Carlo, Monaco - Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal continued their collision course toward a second straight championship match at the Monte Carlo Masters with quarterfinal victories on Friday.

The top-seeded Federer needed just 59 minutes to post a 6-4, 6-0 triumph over Spain's David Ferrer, a victory that earned the Swiss superstar his 500th career match win.

Nadal, the two-time defending champion of this clay-court event and the second seed this week, cruised past German qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals.

If the two can successfully negotiate Saturday's semifinals, a rematch of last year's final will take place Sunday. Nadal posted a 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) victory last year and also beat the 10-time Grand Slam champ in finals at Rome and the French Open before losing in the title match at Wimbledon and in the semifinals of the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup.

Federer was incredibly dominant in his match Friday, breaking serve six times and saving the only two break points he faced. Ferrer won just 10 total points in the second set.

'I finally kind of felt the ball really good from the baseline,' said Federer. 'I just felt like it was easy to keep the ball in play. It was easy to play aggressive. And usually that always happens against the best players. David, he's a very good player in my point of view. He's an excellent grinder and baseline player, and if he plays very well it's so hard to beat him. But I always find a way against him to overpower him from the baseline and just have enough variety to maybe frustrate him a bit. When I needed good shots they come along, and today was a really good match so I'm really pleased.'

Federer improved to 6-0 all-time against Ferrer and has never lost a set in those matches. With a record of 500-127, he joined Carlos Moya as the only active players with 500 career match victories.

Playing only his fifth tournament of the year, Federer improved to 17-2 for the season. Both losses for the reigning Australian Open champ came against Argentina's Guillermo Canas, who is not playing this event.

In addition to his Aussie Open title, Federer also won at Doha earlier this year. However, clay has not been his best surface and he has never won this tournament in his six previous appearances.

Next up for the world's top-ranked player will be another Spaniard in Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Ferrero won this title in 2002 and '03, and advanced to the semis on Friday with a 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 victory over 11th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet. The 16th-seeded Ferrero was down a set and trailed 1-4 in the second before making a stunning comeback against the 20-year-old.

Federer owns a record of 6-3 against Ferrero, winning the last four matches, but the two haven't met since 2005 in the round of 16 at Wimbledon.

Nadal, meanwhile, continued his strong play at this tournament. He has dropped just 10 games in three matches this week, and his victory Friday improved his ledger to an astounding 17-1 in Monte Carlo.

Clay, of course, has been Nadal's favorite surface. The two-time reigning French Open champ now has an Open-era record 65-match win streak on the dirt.

The 20-year-old Nadal won at Indian Wells last month for his lone 2007 title and he has a record of 20-5 for the year. The triumph in California ended a 12-tournament title drought dating back to the 2006 French Open.

Nadal is bidding to become the first player since Ilie Nastase from 1971-73 to win three straight Monte Carlo titles. Standing in his way of another trip to the final will be Tomas Berdych.

The 10th-seeded Czech rallied from a set down for a 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Sweden's Robin Soderling.

Berdych, who won a Masters title at Paris in 2005, has beaten Nadal three times in four lifetime meetings. While all three of those victories came in Masters Series events, all three were on hard courts. The lone Nadal triumph in the series was in the 2005 Bastad final on clay.

© 2007 The Sports Network