Nadal, Djokovic advance at Hamburg Masters

HAMBURG, Germany, May 15 (UPI) -- Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, fighting for the world's No. 2 ranking, both won third-round matches Thursday at the $2.95 million Masters Series Hamburg.

Nadal must finish one round better than Djokovic in Hamburg, Germany, to keep his No. 2 ranking. They are one a collision course for a semifinals matchup after their wins at the clay-court event.

Nadal, seeded second, took a step in that direction with a 6-3, 6-2 win over 15th-seeded Andy Murray while Djokovic, seeded third, defeated Croat Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, in third-round play.

Djokovic needs to get by Albert Montanes, who advanced with a 6-2, 6-1 rout of Janko Tipsarevic, in Friday's quarterfinals to get a possible shot at Nadal on Saturday. Nadal needs to beat 11th-seeded Carlos Moya, a 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1 third-round winner over Marat Safin, for a chance to hold onto the No. 2 spot.

Both are well behind the ranking total of world No. 1 Roger Federer, who topped Robin Soderling, 6-3, 6-2, and on Friday meets Fernando Verdasco, who upset No. 5-seeded Davis Ferrer, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, on Thursday.

Friday's fourth quarterfinal has crowd favorite Nicolas Kiefer playing Andreas Seppi. Kiefer upset No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko, 7-5, 6-3, while Seppi eliminated 12th-seeded Juan Monaco 6-0, 6-3 in third-round matches.