Federer Pulls Another 7-6 Out of the Hat at Dubai

What Roger Federer may have lost of his unbeatable aura since stumbling at the Australian Open, he has made up for with a strong-willed tenaciousness.

Thursday the Swiss No. 1 won his third consecutive third-set tiebreak match (stretching back to last weekend's Rotterdam final) with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) win over former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Ferrero was up 6-4 and 2-0, then 4-3 in the third, and even served for the match at 6-5 in the tiebreak before Federer performed his final magician's trick, closing out the last three points.

"This was a fantastic match, against a fantastic player in front of a fantastic crowd," Federer said. "He should have won the match I think because he was up a break in the third and he had (two) match points...I definitely had a slow start again, the same as in the last couple of matches...I again felt that I couldn't quite cope with the conditions."

Three other seeds advanced into the quarterfinals Thursday in (3) Tim Henman (d. Andreev), (7) Mikhail Youzhny (d. Schuettler), and (8) Ivan Ljubicic (d. Verdasco 7-6 in the third, saving a match point).

"He (Andreev) is a classic example I think of how the game has changed, and he is the modern-day player," said Henman of the Russian. "It's just pure power and athleticism. It may not be the most classical technique but it's so effective. He serves really heavy on both first and second serve and then his game was dominated by his forehand. He can generate so much power from anywhere on the court, it was my job to try and stay clear of that and get to his backhand as much as possible."

In the doubles quarterfinals, unseeded Czechs Martin Damm/Radek Stepanek ousted (1) Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor in straights.

On tap for the Thursday quarters are (1) Federer vs. (7) Youzhny (Club Fed leads their career encounters 5-0), (4) Agassi vs. (6) Davydenko (Agassi won their lone meeting in 2003), (3) Henman vs. (8) Ljubicic (Croatian has won their last three meetings), and (5) Robredo vs. Kiefer (first meeting).