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The pursuing pair — Nadal in the runaway lead between them — are moving toward a possible changing of the guard at the top of tennis after 234 weeks of the Swiss reign.
Djokovic staked his continuing claim, coming back after a Wimbledon second-round elimination, to reach the quarter-finals with a defeat Thursday of Swede Robin Soderling 6-4, 6-4. Nadal secured easy passage over Russian Igor Andreev 6-2, 7-6 (1), winning his 58th match of the season as he aims for a seventh title of 2008.
“It was much better for me than yesterday,” said Nadal. “I'm happy to get to the quarter-finals for the first time in Toronto,” he added after converting on only two of nine.
Nothing can happen at the summit this week, according to the ATP number crunchers. Nadal currently stands 770 points behind Federer, who made a second round exit. The Spaniard could cut that margin to a mere 275 should he win the title.
In third round play, German Nikolas Kiefer eliminated fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 while Croatian spoiler Marin Cilic dealt 2003 Canadian winner and sixth seed Andy Roddick of the United States a huge blow as he upset the sixth seed 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
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