CINCINNATI, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal set up the 31st meeting of their careers Thursday by reaching the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open.
Federer rallied to defeat Tommy Haas in their third-round match 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 and Nadal, with eight championship titles to his credit this year, outlasted Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
Top-seeded Novak Djokovic and No. 2 seed Andy Murray also advanced Thursday, but the focus was on the upcoming matchup of the old rivals who have combined to win 135 tournaments.
Nadal and Federer have met twice this year with Nadal winning both matches -- at Masters Series tournaments in Rome and Indian Wells, Calif.
Nadal has a 20-10 all-time record against Federer. They have not met in a grand slam tournament since the 2011 French Open, where Nadal defeated Federer in the championship match.
Djokovic reached the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-0 decision over David Goffin. John Isner will face Djokovic after getting past Milos Raonic 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Raonic was coming off an appearance in the finals last week at Montreal, where he fell to Nadal.
Murray coasted in his third-round match with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Julian Benneteau and will now face Tomas Berdych, who ousted Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-0.
The other quarterfinal will send Dmitry Tursunov against Juan Martin Del Potro. Tursunov surprised third-seeded David Ferrer 6-2, 6-4 and Del Potro defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
