Cincinnati Masters: Safin, Hewitt and Roddick advance to quarterfinals

Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin and Andy Roddick advanced to the quarterfinals of the $2.45 million (Ђ2.01 million) Cincinnati Masters with victories Thursday.

Hewitt and Safin had an easier time than Roddick. Hewitt, the third-seeded player from Australia, beat Mario Ancic of Croatia 6-1, 6-4. Fourth-seeded Russian Safin beat Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 6-0, 6-3. No. 5 Roddick took Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 7-6 (4), 6-2, again unleashing his big serve to win a tiebreaker.

Friday's quarterfinal matchups include Safin vs. Ginepri; Davydenko vs. Hewitt, and Roddick vs. Youzhny, reported AP.