Croatian pair power into Miami quarter-finals

MIAMI, Mar 28 (Reuters) Croatian Davis Cup team mates Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic stormed into the Nasdaq-100 Open quarter-finals with the minimum of fuss today.

Ancic upset Russian fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko 7-5 6-4 while sixth seed Ljubicic, the interim Croatian Davis Cup playing captain, swept past Belgian Christophe Rochus 6-3 6-1.

Ancic, ranked 23rd, polished his record to 18-7 this season after reaching finals in Auckland and Marseille.

Davydenko had won their previous two matches.

Ljubicic reached his sixth quarter-final of 2006 in less than an hour, striking 34 winners and firing 13 aces.

Later today, top seed Roger Federer will face Russian Dmitry Tursunov, while fourth-seeded American Andy Roddick will take on Tim Henman's conqueror Simon Greul.

Reuters PDS RN0104