Summary Roger Federer beat Leonardo Mayer 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters.
CINCINNATI (AFP) - Roger Federer wasted no time in defeating Leonardo Mayer 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) on Friday as the rain-plagued ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters made up ground after two days of disruption.
Only hours after his comprehensive third-round win, the second-seeded seven-time champion was to face a quarter-final against compatriot Stan Wawrinka, who beat Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 6-3 in another rain-delayed third-round clash.
It will mark the first time since Gstaad in 2004 that Federer has played two matches on the same day.
With cloudy skies a constant weather threat, Federer raced through the opening set in 23 minutes but found the pace slowing in the second as Mayer began to make a match of it.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion, who turned 37 last week, needed a tiebreaker to close it out, taking a 5-1 lead in the decider before firing a ninth ace to seal victory after 72 minutes
"I haven t played two on the same day for a long time," Federer said. "But I m pleased to be playing Stan again."
Federer wasn t the only player pulling double duty.
Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic picked up where he left off early in the third set on Thursday to eliminate defending champion Grigor Dimitrov 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, setting up three match points with an ace and booking a quarter-final meeting with Canadian Milos Raonic.
Fourth seed Juan Martin del Potro outlasted Australian Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (6/8), 6-2 while seventh seeded Marin Cilic beat young Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-4.
Del Potro next faces Belgian 11th seed David Goffin, who upset Wimbledon finalist and sixth seed Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-4. Anderson exited with a whimper, producing just nine aces and dropping his serve three times.
Cilic was to take on Pablo Carreno Busta, who like Raonic managed to book his quarter-final berth on Thursday.
In women s third-round action, Simona Halep and Elina Svitolina advanced efficiently to the last eight.
Top seed Halep came from a break down in each set to overhaul Australian 16th seed Ashleigh Barty 7-5, 6-4.
Ukrainian Svitolina, seeded fifth, beat 16-year-old American prodigy Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 6-4.
Halep set up a quarter-final clash with Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko with her second win in six days over Barty. She beat the Australian in the semi-finals in Montreal an her way to the title there.
"It was a tricky match, she was a tough opponent," Halep said. "It was difficult to find any rhythm today. We were both in trouble during the match. I m happy to go through and tonight I have another match."
Svitolina next faces Kiki Bertens, who completed the women s quarter-final lineup with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win over Anett Kontaveit.
