Federer on fire, Nadal spoils Murray's birthday

Holder Roger Federer [Images] coasted to a 6-3 6-2 win over Robin Soderling at the Hamburg Masters on Thursday before second seed Rafael Nadal [Images] gave Andy Murray a claycourt lesson for his 21st birthday.

Federer was barely made to sweat by the Swede and Nadal joined him in the quarter-finals of the 2.27 million euro (1.8 million pound) tournament by beating the 15th seed Murray by the same 6-3 6-2 scoreline.

"Nadal's forehand is the best shot in tennis," said Murray. "When you go behind against him on clay it's very hard to get back."

Third seeded Serb Novak Djokovic was well satisfied at coming through a bruising match with the Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-6 6-3 but Nikolay Davydenko and David Ferrer fell to unseeded players.

Fifth seed Ferrer lost 7-6 6-2 against his Spanish Davis Cup team mate Fernando Verdasco before the fourth seeded Russian Davydenko fell 7-5 6-3 to Germany's [Images] Nicolas Kiefer in a match that brought the Hamburg crowd to their feet.

Murray has been working with twice French Open finalist Alex Corretja in a bid to improve his game on clay and the Briton did at least manage to put Nadal under pressure at times.

Nadal, playing with greater power and more consistency, took a 3-1 lead in the first set but had Murray taken one of two break points in game eight he might have got back into it.

Murray rallied to break Nadal at the start of the second set but the Spaniard simply raised his game to win it straight back and the rest of the match was a bit of a stroll.

"I had more time to practise ahead of this game so I was more confident and I played a lot better," Nadal said. "I controlled the game with my forehand."

Djokovic, who is fast making up ground on Federer and Nadal, wasted an early break in the first set against the powerful Karlovic and almost paid the price.

The Croat moved a mini-break ahead in the tiebreak but his failure to put away a smash handed it back and Djokovic got the decisive edge with an unplayable return to feet on the next point.

The second set was easier for the Serb, who looks in great shape after winning in Rome last week and can look forward to a quarter-final against Spain's Albert Montanes.

"Karlovic has one of the most difficult serves to face on any surface," said Djokovic. "I thought that on clay I would have more chances to return it but I was wrong."

"I controlled things from the baseline and I served well when I had to," Federer said. "He has a big game, a big serve, but I retrieved it well and scrambled well. That was important."

Federer's next opponent will be Verdasco after his surprise victory over Ferrer in the first match on centre court.

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