Federer Reaches Doha Quarters With Ease

© AFP/Getty ImagesRoger Federer won his 19th straight match Wednesday to reach the Doha quarter-finals.

Roger Federer continued to impress at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha Wednesday, defeating Grega Zemlja 6-2, 6-3 in breezy conditions to win his 19th straight match. "It’s important not to get frustrated in the wind," Federer said in an on-court interview. "I used to be very emotional when I was younger. It was a tough part understanding how to win in the wind. But today, it doesn't bother me anymore. You get used to it."

The defending champion broke the Slovenian twice in the first set, winning 62 per cent of his second serve return points. Zemlja settled in on his serve in the second set, hanging with the Swiss until the eighth game, when Federer broke for a 5-3 lead. He served out the match at love to claim the second-round victory in one hour. "I'm happy to come through matches easily at the beginning of the season," said Federer.

"It can be tricky when you enter the first tournament of the season, and right away you play an incredibly tough three setter, let's say. The body feels that, and that's why I'm happy to be through into the quarter-finals without too much trouble."

Federer has not lost since falling to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the 2011 US Open, and will look for his 20th win in a row when he takes on Andreas Seppi in the quarter-finals. He holds a 7-0 record against the Italian, and has not dropped a set in their FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series.

Seppi proved too strong for Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in his 7-5, 6-3 second-round win, converting five breaks of serve against the Spaniard.

No. 4 seed Gael Monfils came through his second-round battle with Benjamin Becker, topping the German 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 28 minutes.

Becker saved two match points late in the third set before Monfils capitalised on his third chance, converting his decisive fifth break of serve to close out the victory.

Monfils will meet fifth-seeded Viktor Troicki in the final eight. Troicki, a 7-6(6), 6-1 winner over Matthias Bachinger, advanced to the quarter-final stage or better at the event for the third year in a row. The Serbian reached the semi-finals in 2010 (l. to Nadal).

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