Roddick, Blake enter Rome Masters quarter-finals

STRONG REPLY: United States' James Blake returns a ball to Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka during their men's quarter-final match.

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Stepanek knocks Federer out of Rome Masters

Roger Federer lost his sixth match of the year on Friday.

• Federer towers over Karlovic, reaches quarter-finals
• Djokovic beats underdog but other seeds tumble

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Karlovic served 12 aces, routinely registering above 210 kph (130 mph) on the radar gun.

"It's difficult to judge against him. Ivo has an unbelievable serve, probably the best we have in the game," Federer said. "And he comes to the net too, so there's always a lot of pressure."

Federer will next face Radek Stepanek, who defeated Peruvian qualifier Luis Horna 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

Also advancing was Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, who survived a mid-match scare from Igor Andreev before eliminating the Russian 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Djokovic's next opponent is Spanish clay-court specialist Nicolas Almagro, who advanced with a walkover when No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez pulled out with a right leg injury.

This tournament is an important clay-court tuneup for Roland Garros, which begins May 25.

Neither Roddick nor Blake have ever gotten past the third round in Paris.

Agassi was the last American to win the clay-court major in 1999.

Roddick said he "wished" he had learned more from Agassi about how to play on the surface.

"I think Andre was rare in the fact that the way he hit the ball as hard as he was able to, and not give up any ground at the baseline, that comes along once every 10, 20 years," Roddick said. "James is probably more capable of doing that than I am.

"I think the majority of what James and I learned from Andre probably didn't pertain to clay-court tennis."

Still, US Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe is probably smiling.

The Americans will almost certainly have to play on clay in the semi-finals at Spain in September, and team spirit is growing along with the positive results.

"We're really good friends. We hang out all the time," Roddick said of his relationship with Blake.

"I don't think being teammates stops when it's not a Davis Cup week. James and Mardy (Fish), and the Bryans, we're all kind of each other's family on the road. We always support each other."

The Bryan brothers - Bob and Mike - won the Barcelona Open last week and are also competing here.

The only other American in the tournament - Fish - was beaten by Roddick in the second round.