Holder Roger Federer continued his trouble-free progress at the Hamburg Masters with a 6-3 6-2 win over unseeded Swede Robin Soderling.

Click on the link below the photo for continued LIVE coverage with Andy Murray v Rafael Nadal starting from 18:00 BST!

Novak Djokovic, the third-seeded Serb, joined the top seed in the quarter-finals after winning a tough match with Croatia's Ivo Karlovic 7-6 6-3 but fifth seed David Ferrer went out in an all-Spanish battle with Fernando Verdasco by losing 7-6 6-2.

World number one Federer, who beat Rafael Nadal to win the title for the fourth time last year, was barely made to sweat with a second successive straight-sets win at the 2.27 million euro (£1.81 million) clay-court tournament.

"I controlled things from the baseline and I served well when I had to," Federer said. "He has a big game, a big serve, but I retrieved it well and scrambled well. That was important."

Djokovic, who is fast making up ground on Federer and Nadal, wasted an early break in the first set against the powerful Karlovic and almost paid the price.

The Croat moved a mini-break ahead in the tiebreak but his failure to put away a smash handed it back and Djokovic got the decisive edge with an unplayable return to feet on the next point.

The second set was easier for the Serb, who looks in great shape after winning in Rome last week and can look forward to a quarter-final against Spain's Albert Montanes.

Federer's next opponent will be Verdasco after his surprise victory over Ferrer in the first match on centre court.

The Spaniard edged the first set 7-4 in the tiebreak and took a 4-1 lead in a second set that was tighter than the scoreline suggests, with Ferrer scrapping for everything.

Nadal is playing Britain's Andy Murray, who turned 21 on Thursday, in the final match on centre-court.

Reuters