Federer reigns in the rain

Roger Federer beat the bad weather and Victor Hanescu to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Estoril Open.

Top seed makes light work of Romanian to reach last eight

Roger Federer beat the bad weather and Victor Hanescu to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Estoril Open. The world number one made sure he was not on court for too long in light rain by defeating the Romanian 6-3 6-2 in just 59 minutes. "Victor had a really hard time penetrating the ball, he struggled to hit winners and I didn't make too many mistakes," the Swiss star said afterwards. "I played offensive and knew what to do. It was a good match. I'm very happy."

Watching brief

Federer, playing in the event for the first time, was watched by new coach Jose Higueras and Switzerland's Davis Cup coach Severin Luethi. He raced through the first set in just 30 minutes and then immediately made an impact in the second by breaking Hanescu. The only stumbling block for the Swiss star was when it came to the finish, the top seed surrendering three match points in the eighth game. After some late heroics from Hanescu, Federer's third ace of the day finally ended the contest at the fourth opportunity. His next opponent will be the winner of the match between unseeded Portuguese players Joao Sousa and Frederico Gil. Federer has yet to win a tournament this year.