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Reuters 17y

UPDATE 4-Tennis-Federer eases past Lee in Monte Carlo

(Adds Gasquet win, quotes)

By Julien Pretot

MONTE CARLO, April 19 - World number one Roger
Federer made light work of South Korean Lee Hyung-taik to reach
the Monte Carlo Masters Series quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-3 win
on Thursday.

He now meets claycourt specialist David Ferrer after the
Spaniard recovered from a sluggish start to knock out sixth
seeded Serb Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-4.

"He's an excellent player, especially on clay. This is where
he's got the most confidence, so it's going to be difficult for
me to beat him here," said Federer, who has never dropped a set
against Ferrer in their five previous meetings.

The Swiss, who arrived here with back-to-back defeats by
Argentine Guillermo Canas in Miami and Indian Wells, broke
decisively in the ninth game of the opening set to take control.

After that, Federer, who has 10 Grand Slams to his name but
has yet to win the French Open, was never in bother and clinched
victory in 64 minutes.

"I think it was an average match from my side. Maybe it was
just my timing at the beginning. I was just shanking a lot of
balls and not able to keep the ball in play," he said.

"Once I was able to do that I was in total control."

SOLID FERRERO

Former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain
moved closer to the form that allowed him to win at Roland
Garros four years ago to defeat Russian Igor Andreev 6-3 6-3.

Ferrero takes on Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who battled two
hours and 50 minutes to see off Croatian seventh seed Ivan
Ljubicic 6-3 6-7 7-5.

"I made a superb passing shot on match point," Gasquet,
seeded 11th, said in a courtside interview.

"We both fought until the end and that is what made of this
match a great one. I was tense in the second set, that is why I
lost the tiebreak."

Czech prospect Tomas Berdych fought back from a set down to
advance with a 1-6 6-3 6-2 victory over fifth seeded Spaniard
Tommy Robredo.

The 10th seed faces a last-eight encounter against Sweden's
Robin Soederling, who had earlier battled to a 7-6 6-2 victory
over Max Mirnyi of Belarus.

The 21-year-old Berdych was overwhelmed by claycourt
specialist Robredo in the opening set, which the Spaniard
clinched in 36 minutes, before an early break in the second was
enough to force a decider.

Berdych, who reached the fourth round at last year's French
Open, broke twice and wrapped up the win on his first match
point.

World number 28 Soederling recovered from an early break to
force a tiebreak, which he won 7-5, before stepping up a gear in
the second set.

Soederling converted three of his nine break chances in all
to seal victory in 88 minutes on his first match point.

Later on Thursday, holder Rafael Nadal will hope to extend
his record 63-match winning streak on clay against Belgium's
Kristof Vliegen.

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