Roger Federer advanced to the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open after beating qualifier Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-1 in a match that ended at 1:29 am on Wednesday. Taking the court following a succession of marathon matches, Federer needed just 52 minutes to beat Belgian Rochus. A couple of thousand fans remained until the finish.
Federer couldn't remember ever starting a match so late. He found it odd even to be up at such an hour, given that he's the father of young twins.
"I'm getting up usually at 1:30," he said. "That's what tennis is all about. We don't know when we play, and we don't have a set schedule, and so we have to be able to adapt."
Federer's opponent on Thursday will be No 25-seeded Gilles Simon of France, who beat Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Federer and Rochus took the court after Maria Sharapova earned a semifinal berth by winning a 3 and 1/2-hour match that ended at 12:19 am. She beat No. 26-seeded Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5).
Sharapova's opponent will be No 21 Andrea Petkovic of Germany, who earlier played for nearly three hours on the same stadium court to notch her second upset in two days, beating No 6 Jelena Jankovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. Petkovic eliminated No 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round.
Two-time champion Kim Clijsters also went the distance, overcoming five match points to beat No 19-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (5).
Seeded-seconded Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak to 23 consecutive matches by beating fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round.
Also advancing to the quarterfinals was top-ranked Rafael Nadal, who committed only five unforced errors to beat No. 21-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine 6-1, 6-2.
Djokovic won two Davis Cup matches in December and is 21-0 in 2011, the best record to begin a year since Ivan Lendl started 25-0 in 1986. Djokovic beat Troicki for the ninth time in a row, with six of the victories since August.
Mardy Fish, the last American in the tournament, limped into the quarter-finals after a gruelling 7-5, 7-6 (5) win over Juan Martin del Potro. Fish will next face No 6 David Ferrer of Spain.
American John Isner, seeded 30th, lost to Kevin Anderson of South Africa, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Kim Clijsters overcame five match points to beat No 19-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (5). Clijsters, the tournament champion in 2005 and again last year, was serving at 1-5, love-40 when her comeback began.
Ivanovic took the loss badly.
"You should see my racket," the 2008 French Open champion said, managing a smile. "I kind of broke my racket, and then kind of cried a little bit, and then I was OK."
Sharapova won despite 17 double-faults and twice as many unforced errors as Dulgheru.
"It was long. It was tough," she said. "It was not my best performance, but, you know, I gutted it out till the end."
Sharapova turned her ankle late in the third set and required treatment from a trainer in the middle of a game. The crowd gasped when her misstep was replayed on the video scoreboard, but the injury didn't appear to affect her.
"It hurt when I did it," she said. "I iced it a lot, and did an ice bath and got it taped. I think I'll be OK. I'm tough."
Fish, 29, will overtake Andy Roddick and become the top-ranked American man for the first time if he defeats Ferrer.
"Being the No 1 American would be something that would be pretty cool to tell my kids about," said Fish, who is married but not yet a dad.
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