Djokovic steady

Novak Djokovic of Serbia serves against David Goffin of Belgium during their pre-quarterfinal match of the Cincinnati Masters at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati, Ohio on Thursday. PHOTO: AFP

Novak Djokovic continued his quest for a first title at the Cincinnati Masters while Roger Federer kept alive his bid for a sixth as the seeded pair advanced into the quarter-finals on Thursday.
The contrast between the wins could not have been more stark, with top seed Djokovic crushing Belgian qualifier David Goffin 6-2, 6-0 in just 50 minutes.
Federer is seeded fifth and was the winner here a year ago on the fast hardcourt where he thrives. He had to rally from the depths after a disaster of an opening set, finally overhauling German Tommy Haas 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
The Swiss has gone back to his traditional racquet after experimenting without much success last month with a larger, more modern model. He said he needed to go back to basics to pull off his 12th win from 15 meetings with Haas, seeded 11th.
"I wasn't playing great in the first set, I needed to clean up my game from the baseline," said the crowd favourite and fifth seed. "I'm happy to be through to have another match.
"Sometimes on fast courts it's tough to get rhythm, you are thinking of too many things. I had to simplify my game in order to win."