Murray leads way as seeds reach last eight in Montreal

MONTREAL (Reuters) - Andy Murray's hardcourt campaign moved into top gear when the third seed sped into the quarter-finals of the Montreal Masters with a 6-1 6-3 win over Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero on Thursday.

Fourth-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic, fifth-seeded American Andy Roddick and sixth-seeded Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro also advanced. World numbers one and two Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play later on Thursday.

In his first event since falling to Roddick in last month's Wimbledon semi-finals, Murray was in impressive form as he knocked the last bit of rust off his game to dismiss Ferrero in just 77 minutes.

Ferrero, who has shot up the world rankings in the last three months going from outside the top 100 to number 29, was looking for revenge after being knocked out in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

However, the former world number one was again overwhelmed by Murray.

"I feel like I'm off to a good start," the Briton told reporters. "I'm moving really well.

"Physically it's still tough but mentally I'm a lot fresher."

Murray could take the number two spot from Nadal if he lands the title here.

While the young Scot barely broke sweat under a blazing Canadian sun, Roddick was left drained as he needed two hours 36 minutes to defeat feisty Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-6 4-6 7-6.

BASELINE RALLIES

"He wouldn't go away," said Roddick who took his tiebreak record this season to 32-8.

"To be honest I was probably at his mercy in most of those baseline rallies. I just stuck around."

The win set up an intriguing quarter-final showdown between 2003 champion Roddick and 2007 winner Djokovic, who scored a 6-3 6-4 triumph over Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

Del Potro, who captured the title in Washington last week, also required a big effort to reach the last eight, rallying for a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Romania's Victor Hanescu.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)