Roddick, Nadal Roll at Indian Wells

Roger Federer's early exit has left the Indian Wells title up for grabs, and new tournament favorites Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick appear headed for a monster collision in the Pacific Life Open final.

The second-seeded Nadal destroyed his countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 6-1 in 61 minutes Tuesday to advance to the quarterfinals.

Nadal saved all five break chances faced while converting on five of his seven to dispatch Ferrero, who became the fifth former or current No. 1 ranked ATP players to fall in Indian Wells.

The second-seeded Spaniard improved to a 5-1 record over Ferrero and avenged his loss in their last meeting, last August in the quarterfinals of ATP Masters Series Cincinnati.

"For sure, it's important for me, the victory after last year losing in Cincinnati against him, 7-6, 7-6," said Nadal. "So for me, it's fine. I'm in quarterfinals, that's good tournament for me. Right now, I gonna try my best to continue like this and try to go to semifinals, and have had same result like last year."

Nadal, who has yet to drop a set this week, posted straight-sets wins last year over Jan Hernych, Mardy Fish, Sebastien Grosjean and Marcos Baghdatis en route to the semifinals.

The 20-year-old will next face Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela, who ended American Michael Russell's dream run with a 6-4, 6-4 win. Chela and Nadal have split their previous two meetings, which both came back in 2004.

Roddick has looked equally impressive, last night taking care of talented Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-6(3), 6-3 to secure his tenth career meeting with Croat Ivan Ljubicic. Roddick leads the career series, 6-3, but Ljubicic has won two of their last three encounters.

"It will be a tough one. Obviously, it's just going to be a matter of who can get some chances to break," said Roddick, who has a 1-1 record in his previous quarterfinal appearances at the Pacific Life Open. He reached the semifinals in 2005, falling to Australian Lleyton Hewitt.

Ljubicic reached the quarterfinals for the second straight year, fighting through knee problems in the first set to notch the 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Argentine David Nalbandian.

"I kind of just tried not think about it," said Ljubicic, who received treatment for his right knee in the first set. "I was thinking in the beginning of the second set, if I lose the serve, I'm just going to retire, because I didn't know how bad can it be if I keep playing, but fortunately I managed to hold serve long enough to put the pressure on David's serve winning the second."

Ljubicic, who lost to Federer in Indian Wells the last two years, was optimistic of his chances with the No. 1 seed out of the draw: "He's not around anymore, so maybe, you know, I can go all the way. But, of course, I'm confident, but it's not going to be easy. But I do like the conditions here. They are just perfect for my game."