Rotterdam: Top-seeded Roger Federer easily beat Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 6-4 in the first round on Wednesday to sail straight into the quarter-finals of the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament.
Federer's second-round opponent Mikhail Youzhny withdrew with a foot injury, giving the Swiss star a place in the last-eight.
The 16-time Grand Slam winner next meets Jarkko Nieminen, who overcame Lukasz Kubot 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (2).
Federer is making his first appearance in Rotterdam since 2005, and said "it's nice to be back."
Second-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic hit 10 aces to beat countryman Lukas Rosol 6-4 6-2 and book a spot in the second round.
Third-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro, who is making his Rotterdam debut, beat 2008 champion Michael Llodra 6-4 6-7 (3) 6-4.
On Tuesday, seventh-seeded Viktor Troicki struggled against Thiemo de Bakker in the first set before overpowering him in the second for a 7-6 (6), 6-0 win in the first round.
Troicki, who helped Serbia beat Sweden in the Davis Cup over the weekend, squandered three break points in the first set before edging De Bakker in a close tie-breaker.
De Bakker said, "I should have won that tie-break," and that "I blew my chances in the first set."
Nikolay Davydenko advanced by beating Robin Haase of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-2, and Mikhail Youzhny defeated Igor Kunitsyn 6-0, 6-7 (4), 6-0 in an all-Russian match.
In other first-round matches, 16th-seeded Jarkko Nieminen beat Dutchman Igor Sijsling 6-1, 6-7 (7), 7-5, Andreas Seppi overcame Rik De Voest 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 and Phillip Kohlschreiber beat Marcel Granollers 6-1, 1-6, 6-4.
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