Tennis: Roger Federer continued his serene progress at the US Open to remain on course for a showdown with the man who ended his amazing Grand Slam streak. The Swiss overcame strong winds to beat France's Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 39 minutes and is yet to drop a set in three matches at Flushing Meadows.
The five-time champion is looking to reach his seventh straight final in New York and regain the title after losing to Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro 12 months ago.
But he will face Sweden's Robin Soderling in the quarter-finals, the player he lost to at the same stage of the French Open this year to end his streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semi-final appearances.
Speaking about his win over Mathieu, Federer said: "I thought the first set was the key. He has some serious talent. We came through the juniors together and he used to toy around with me.
"I got a bit lucky in the first set, he had the first break point at 4-3 and after that I was able to break him back and maybe break his will a bit."
Federer announced before the championships began that he has hired Paul Annacone as his coach full time after a successful trial period and added: "He's a good guy and we have known each other a long time since he was working with Pete (Sampras) and Tim (Henman).
"We had a good test after Wimbledon, he's making me play a little more aggressive and it's good to hear from someone new. I haven't lost many matches on the hard-court season."
American Mardy Fish continued his impressive recent form with a five-set victory over France's Arnaud Clement, the 19th seed making it 19 wins in his last 21 matches with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 1-6 6-3 success.
Fish will face third seed Novak Djokovic after he beat American James Blake 6-1 7-6 6-3 on Saturday night.
Djokovic, a runner-up at Flushing Meadows in 2007 and a losing semi-finalist in the last two years, stormed past 30-year-old Blake to take the first set in 22 minutes. Blake delighted the home crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium by breaking for a 4-2 lead in the second set but the Serbian broke back immediately and won the tie-break before wrapping up the match relatively comfortably.
Spain's Albert Montanes was first into the last 16 after Japan's Kei Nishikori was forced to retire from their third match.
Montanes, the 21st seed, had won the first set 6-2 and was leading 2-1 in the second when Nishikori indicated he was unable to continue with a groin injury.
Nishikori, who came through three matches in qualifying just to reach the main draw, was possibly suffering the effects of his second round win over 11th seed Marin Cilic.
The 20-year-old beat Cilic 5-7 7-6 3-6 7-6 6-1 in a match lasting just a minute shy of five hours in sweltering conditions in New York.