ROME (AP) " Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic both advanced to the Rome Masters quarterfinals with straight-set wins Thursday.
Federer got even for last year's quarterfinal loss to Radek Stepanek by beating the 16th-seeded Czech player 6-4, 6-1. Djokovic had an even easier time with 13th-seeded Tommy Robredo, winning 6-1, 6-1.
Also advancing were No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro, No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez, and Argentine qualifier Juan Monaco. Later, three-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal was to face Robin Soderling of Sweden.
Federer said conditions were a touch slower than when he played Stepanek last year, and he could read his opponent's serve better.
"I told myself I have to be very disciplined in my playing today, the way I play my tactical game against him and just the way I have to focus," Federer said. "Last year I got a little bit unsure about my own game and he played well, and then I was not 100 percent sure of what I wanted to do."
Federer jumped out to a 3-0 lead before being broken when he served for the first set at 5-3. But the newlywed Swiss player broke right back when he forced Stepanek to hit a low volley that landed in the net.
Federer cruised in the second set, serving his fifth ace on his first match point. But Federer managed to get only 43 percent of his first serves in, and he will likely have to improve to avoid extending his title drought to eight tournaments.
"I didn't care how high my first serve percentage was, as long as I was winning," Federer said. "But it's definitely something I have to do better in the next match."
Federer will next face German qualifier Mischa Zverev, who upset eighth-seeded Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-1.
Djokovic needs to defend his title at this clay court warmup for the French Open to prevent Andy Murray from taking the No. 3 ranking from him, even though Murray was eliminated by Monaco on Wednesday.
Djokovic began working with Thomas Muster's old trainer, Gebhard Phil-Gritsch, last week, and kept his level high from start to finish against Robredo, despite rain falling in the second set.
"I felt quite good," Djokovic said. "I had a day off yesterday, which helped me to recover from the late night second round and just get some more practice."
Djokovic has won his past five matches against Robredo, who leads the tour with 19 wins on clay this year.
"It was quite strange because Tommy was making a lot of unforced errors, so he didn't put a lot of pressure on me," Djokovic said.
Del Potro defeated last year's runner-up, No. 10 Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
Monaco produced another upset by beating 15th-seeded Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, improving to 14-6 on clay this year, including a runner-up result in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in February. He will next face Gonzalez, who rallied to beat Jurgen Melzer of Austria 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Gonzalez was the runner-up in Rome two years ago and is 10-1 on clay this season. Melzer won 40 of 65 points at the net but dropped his serve late in the third set when Gonzalez hit a backhand return winner up the line.
Gonzalez snapped his racket in half early in the match when he was struggling to counter Melzer's attacking game.