Federer takes revenge on Canas in Madrid tennis Masters

MADRID—Roger Federer came down hard on an outsider who embarrassed him last March, crushing Argentine Guillermo Canas 6-0, 6-3 to blow into the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters.
The Thursday thunder off the Federer racket made amends for back-to-back defeats the Swiss suffered at the hands of nothing-to-lose Canas in the second round at Indian Wells and the fourth round in Miami. Those two upset half a year ago are among only six suffered so far by the world number one this season, another raging success for the holder of a dozen Grand Slam titles.
It took Canas 31 minutes of play and eight games to finally get one on the scoreboard as the 13th seed levelled at 1-1 in the second set in Madrid. Federer still maintained a stranglehold on the afternoon, firing up a love game for 3-2 and broke a game later. Canas saved a match point before going down in 53 minutes with Federer never facing a break point and hammering 27 winners.
The Swiss is on a mission during the final segment of his season, determined to repeat as Madrid champion as well as dominate in Basel next week and conclude the regular campaign at the Paris Masters. He leads the eight-man field at the wrapup Masters Cup in Shanghai from November 11. Third-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic ended the hope of 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory, the Spaniard saving match points in the penultimate game to home cheers. Djokovic has booked his place in Shanghai along with Federer, Rafael Nadal and Russian Nikolay Davydenko. The 20-year-old Djokovic struck 29 winners and 40 unforced errors as he beat Ferrero for the second time following a victory in 2005. The Serb admits to fatigue, but is determined to play through.
“It’s been long year, but my goal remains to play well in important moments,” said Djokovic, winner of five titles including two at the Masters level this breakthrough season. “I want to finish well here, in Paris and in Shanghai. I’ve had a long season and I’m very exhausted physically and mentally. “But I still believe that I can do well here.”
Djokivic plays Friday in a Balkan clash when he meets unseeded Croatian Mario Ancic, who continued his post-illness roll over Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-3. Third seed Fernando Gonzalez improved his chances of qualifying for Shanghai with a 6-4, 6-2 dispatch of Juan Monaco in the third round. The fifth-seeded Chilean played the Madrid final a year ago, losing quickly to Federer. Gonzalez, who won the Beijing title in September as he erased the memory of four losses from the end of Wimbledon through the US Open, stands provisional seventh in the race for one of four spots remaining in the eight-man field in China.—Agencies