• ATP Tour

Fabulous Federer cruises past Lopez

Roger Federer did not offer up a single break point against Feliciano Lopez © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• Profile: Roger Federer | Mardy Fish | Feliciano Lopez | Mikhail Youzhny

Roger Federer produced a supreme display of serving as he extended his perfect record against Feliciano Lopez.

The Swiss has his sights fixed on a big year in 2012 and having won earlier in the month in Rotterdam, he proved too good for Lopez at the Dubai Duty Free Championship.

Lopez came into the match having lost all nine games to Federer and although he played with real quality, he was unable to make any inroads on the former world No. 1's serve and was dispatched 7-5 6-3.

Federer powered down nine aces in the opening set and the dominance on serve enabled him to impart pressure on Lopez. The Spaniard was burned by a pass and then threw a volley into the net to hand Fededer set points in the 10th game, but big serving dug him out of a hole.

Federer continued to probe, with his backhand slice particularly potent against an opponent keen to dominate at the net. It was appropriate that it was the backhand slice that secured the opening, as a pass proved too tough for Lopez to make a play on.

The second set followed a similar path to the first, with Federer untouchable on serve. He probed and probed before making the breakthrough in the eighth game, although Lopez was his own worst enemy as two mistakes from 30-30 handed his opponent the break.

Lopez was put out of his misery one game later, but not before being involved in one of the points of the year. Federer had to track a lob and play an acrobatic return, which led to an exchange of volleys, with Lopez blinking by netting a volley.

Federer's quarter-final test will be Mikhail Youzhny, who upset No. 6 seed Mardy Fish 6-2 7-6(0). Youzhny did not drop his serve en route to victory, which was clinched in a desperately one-sided tiebreaker.

Should Federer advance beyond that encounter, he faces the possibility of meeting Juan Martin Del Potro in the semi-finals. Del Potro, who lost to the Swiss in the Rotterdam final just over a week ago, defeated the last remaining qualifier Andrey Golubev 6-4 6-2.

The Argentinian will now meet fourth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last eight, following Tsonga's 6-3 6-4 win over Lukas Rosol. The winner of Tsonga v Del Potro is likely to set up that potential meeting with Federer, unless Youzhny has other ideas.

Elsewhere, at the Delray Beach International Championships, top seed John Isner breezed into the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Ryan Sweeting. Isner needed just two breaks of serve in the match to defeat his compatriot.

Sixth seed Alex Bogomolov Jr was bundled out by Austrian qualifier Marinko Matosevic. The 173rd-ranked Matosevic earned the win courtesy of winning five out of eight break points.

At the Abierto Mexicano tournament, David Ferrer continued his fine run of form with a 6-3 6-3 win over Lukasz Kubot. The top seed moved beyond the second round, as did defending champion and No. 2 seed Nicolas Almagro, who overcame Benoit Paire in three sets.

However, fellow seeds Kei Nishikori, Florian Mayer and Marcel Granollers made early exits.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.