Nadal Wins, Karlovic Streak Continues at ATP Madrid

Croat boomer "Dr." Ivo Karlovic followed up his win over Andy Roddick with another seeded upset Thursday at the Masters Series-Madrid, edging No. 14-seeded Czech Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty 7-6(9), 7-6(3) to move into the quarterfinals and place himself on the radar for Croatia's upcoming Davis Cup final at the Czech Republic.

Upsets among the seeds were orchestrated by (16) Robby Ginepri (d. (3) Davydenko), and (11) David Ferrer (d. (6) Puerta from a set down).

Other seeds advancing were (1) Rafael Nadal (d. Spanish countryman Robredo), (4) Guillermo Coria (d. (15) Gonzalez), (5) David Nalbandian (d. (9) T.Johansson), (8) Ivan Ljubicic (d. O. Rochus), and (10) Radek Stepanek (d. Acasuso 7-6 in the third).

"Today I played much better than yesterday," Nadal said, showing few signs of his knee tendonitis issue. "That's a good sign. Now I'm in the quarterfinals and I have a tough match against Stepanek. I won't think about anything else."

Nalbandian made light work of Johansson in straight sets.

"There was a lot of light in the arena and I didn't feel comfortable when I tossed the ball," Nalbandian said. "It has not been my best day serving, but I did well on the important points."

Scheduled for the Friday quarterfinals are (16) Ginepri vs. (11) Ferrer, (8) Ljubicic vs. (15) Gonzalez, (1) Nadal vs. (10) Stepanek, (5) Nalbandian vs. (Q) Karlovic, and in doubles Frenchmen (4) Llodra/Santoro vs. Americans (WC) Blake/Roddick, Aussies Arthurs/Hanley vs. Zimbabwe's (2)Black/Ullyett, Bhupathi/Damm vs. Paes/Zimonjic in an Indian tussle, and Spaniards (WC) Ferrer/Verdasco vs. (3) Knowles/Nestor.