Monday, June 5 2006 15:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Paris: World number one Roger Federer stayed on course to become only the sixth man in history to win all four Grand Slam titles when he eased into the French Open quarter-finals on Sunday.

Federer brushed aside Czech Tomas Berdych, the man who beat him at the Athens Olympics, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to set up a mouth-watering last eight clash against Croatia's Mario Ancic who put out Spanish seventh seed Tommy Robredo.

Federer took just 106 minutes to complete his afternoon's work as he continued his campaign to be the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles. His only blip was slipping to 0-2 at the start of the third set before overwhelming the Czech 20th seed.

The five men to have won all four Grand Slam titles are Americans Don Budge and Andre Agassi, Australians Roy Emerson and Laver, plus Britain's Fred Perry.

Ancic overcame a late injury scare to knock out Hamburg Masters champion Robredo 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 and reach the quarter-finals for the first time.

"I believe I'm a better player now than I have been and I've improved since the start of the season," said Ancic.

"I have worked hard and it's paid off. I've always had a fighting spirit, I always give 100 percent," she said.

Ancic, the 12th seed, also saw his Davis Cup winning team-mate Ivan Ljubicic reach the last 16 beating Juan Monaco of Argentina 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in a match held over from Saturday.

The fourth seed will next play Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo for a place in the quarter-finals.

French teenager Gael Monfils also triumphed in a third round match which was halted the night before beating America's James Blake, the eighth seed, 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/1), 5-7, 6-4 in a stormy encounter.

Monfils now meets fellow teenager Novak Djokovic of Serbia for a place in the last eight.

In the women's tournament, Dinara Safina finally stepped out of big brother Marat Safin's shadow when she sent Russian compatriot Maria Sharapova spinning out winning 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 in the fourth round.

The 20-year-old Safina will face fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova for a place in the semi-finals after mounting a stirring comeback to defeat the poster girl of women's tennis.

Sharapova let a 5-1 final set lead slip against her gutsy opponent.

"It's unbelievable what I did," said Safina, who has reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final.

"I took things into my own hands. She was dictating and making me run from corner to corner. So I said: 'OK, now I will try to make her run. I started to look for the lines and I was more aggressive on every point," she said.

Sharapova, who has never got beyond the last eight here, had been far from her best at the French Open having to save three match points before beating America's Mashona Washington in the first round.

The former world number one had arrived in Paris not having played a clay court match all year after spending eight weeks on the sidelines nursing an ankle injury. "She had nothing to lose at 1-5 in the final set," said Sharapova.

"The game at 5-2 opened up the door a little bit for her and you get hit in the head. I haven't had those kind of tough matches in the past few weeks," she said.

Eighth seed Kuznetsova, a former US Open champion, struggled into her first Roland Garros quater-final beating Italy's ninth seed Francesca Schiavone 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Like Sharapova, she also squandered a 5-1 final set lead before rallying to break the Italian in the 10th game of the decider.

Belgian second seed Kim Clijsters made it eight wins out of eight against hapless Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia winning 6-1, 6-4 and will now face either Martina Hingis or Shahar Peer for a semi-final place.

Later Sunday, men's third seed David Nalbandian takes on compatriot and qualifier Martin Vassallo Arguello while women's top seed Amelie Mauresmo meets Czech 16th seed Nicola Vaidisova.

Defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne takes on Russia's Anastasia Myskina for a place in the last eight.