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ROME (AP) -Andy Roddick and James Blake advanced Thursday to the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters, marking the first time in six years two Americans reached the final eight.
Roddick silenced a partisan crowd with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Simone Bolelli of Italy, and Blake rallied past Fernando Verdasco of Spain 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.
Top-ranked Roger Federer defeated towering Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (4), 6-3 on clay, and the American's victories - on their weakest surface - came a day after three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal was ousted.
The last time two or more Americans reached the quarterfinals in Rome was 2002, when Roddick and Blake joined eventual champion Andre Agassi.
Roddick is playing his first tournament on clay this year, and improved to 23-4 overall this season.
In the first-set tiebreaker, Roddick drew Bolelli to the net and sent a high ball to his backhand, setting up a winner to take a 4-3 lead. Bolelli fought back to 5-5, then netted two forehands to hand Roddick the set.
Roddick broke Bolelli's serve in the opening game of the second set, and cruised from there.
Federer improved to 6-0 overall against the 6-foot-10 Croat.
"It's difficult to judge against him. Ivo has an unbelievable serve, probably the best we have in the game," Federer said. "And he comes to the net too, so there's always a lot of pressure."
Karlovic served 12 aces, routinely registering above 136 mph.
Federer tried to lob Karlovic early on, but eventually discovered that his best solution was passing shots.
In the first-set tiebreaker, Federer took control with a return winner off Karlovic's first serve to go up 6-4, then closed out the set by making Karlovic reach too far for a volley.
Federer landed a forehand on the line to finally break Karlovic's serve and take a 3-2 lead in the second set, then broke again to close out the match when Karlovic missed a volley.
