Roger Federer was once again in vintage form as he swept aside Swiss teenager Stanislas Wawrinka 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the World Indoor Tournament on Thursday.
Former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson continued his resurgence by outgunning his in-form namesake Joachim Johansson 6-4, 6-4.
Ranked 128 places above his compatriot, top seed Federer showed no signs of the jitters evident during his opening match as he reached the last eight for the sixth successive time.
The win also put him one match away from a possible semi-final showdown with Britain's Tim Henman, who beat Federer in the quarter-finals here last year.
Third seed Henman scurried into the last eight this time with a clinical 6-4, 6-1 win over Frenchman Michael Llodra.
Qualifier Wawrinka, who carved out the biggest win of his career in the previous round when he upset France's Sebastien Grosjean, barely knew what had hit him in a first set against Federer lasting just 25 minutes.
"It was awkward for both of us. We practise quite a lot together and then suddenly a match comes along and you have to switch mentally as every point counts," Federer said.
"You want to show the youngster that you are the better player and that you deserve the number one ranking.
"He was nervous and I took advantage of that. Leaving today as a loser wouldn't have been very nice for me."
The second set looked to be heading the same way when Wawrinka was again broken at the start but, cheered on by a boisterous crowd, the 19-year-old found his footing and even earned a break point when Federer was serving for the match.
OPEN COURT
After handing Wawrinka the chance to get back on level terms by slamming the ball wide of an open court, Federer restored order by winning the next three points for the match.
British number one Henman was left twiddling his thumbs in the locker room for more than three hours as Sjeng Schalken attempted to keep alive Dutch interest in the tournament with a three-set encounter against Croatian Ivan Ljubicic.
When Henman finally stepped on court at 2230 local time, he was in no mood to procrastinate.
"I'd like to thank everyone for hanging around so late," Henman told the sparse crowd courtside after his swift victory.
"It's not so easy when there's a lot of hanging around but it was a good match for me."
A three-time runner-up here, the Briton earned his first break point in Llodra's opening service game but the 52nd-ranked Frenchman survived that scare with an ace.
Although Llodra did not drop a point in his next three service games, he crumbled while trying to stay in the set at 5-4 down.
A smashed volley into the net handed Henman the set after 32 minutes and the error seemed to take the fight out of Llodra who quickly fell 5-0 behind before his ordeal ended when he floated a forehand long.
EXPERIENCED OPPONENT
Henman will now be looking to avenge last year's Wimbledon defeat by Croatia's Mario Ancic when they meet on Friday.
Thomas Johansson, still trying to recapture his best form after injuries wrecked his 2003 season, had entered the contest as the underdog. Fifth seed Joachim arrived in the Dutch port city on a roll, having won two titles already this year.
But against his more experienced opponent, Joachim simply floundered, just as he had done in their only previous meeting last year.
A single break in each set was enough for the 29th-ranked Thomas to reach the last eight, an ace on match point completing the victory.
"Today was a good day for me. I got his serve back and that is key to playing him," said Thomas, who even won the ace count after firing 15 to Joachim's 13.
"I'm really satisfied with today's performance because I haven't had very many wins against top 10 players since I got back from my injuries."
Ancic unleashed 24 aces in his 6-4, 6-3 win over Belgian qualifier Olivier Rochus, while Schalken's 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 loss to Ljubicic ended the home challenge at the event.
