29 Mar 2011

Federer and Nadal progress in Miami

5:14 pm on 29 March 2011

The world tennis number obe Rafa Nadal and number three Roger Federer remain on course for their first head-to-head clash this year after easily winning their third round matches at the Miami Masters.

The two great rivals brushed past their opponents in straight sets to stay on track for a meeting in the semi-finals.

Nadal eased past another Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-3 while Federer had to work a little harder, surviving a first-set tiebreaker, before beating Juan Monaco of Argentina by the same margin.

Federer's next opponent is Belgian qualifier Olivier Rochus while Nadal will meet either Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov or Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.