SYDNEY (Reuters) - World number eight Andy Roddick dismissed Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-2 6-3 to reach the semi-finals at Brisbane International on Thursday.
Top seed Robin Soderling progressed to the last eight after overcoming the dogged resistance of German journeyman Michael Berrer 6-3 7-6.
"I feel good after three matches. I felt good about pretty much everything tonight," Roddick said.
"It's going to be a different match. I feel like it's less about form. With a serve like that you're not going to see a lot of balls you could go games without seeing it, so it's hard to get into a rhythm.
"It's going to be a matter of opportunity."
Earlier in the day, Berrer sensed his opportunity as well but could not stop Soderling from advancing.
The world number five Swede broke the 58th-ranked Berrer once to claim the first set but was unable to penetrate the lanky 30-year-old's serve in the second.
Soderling prevailed in a tense 9-7 tiebreak to seal the hard-fought match in 95 minutes and set up a quarter-final encounter with Australian qualifier Matt Ebden, who earlier upset eighth-seeded Uzbek Denis Istomin 6-4 6-4.
The double French Open finalist said he would be wary of the 196th-ranked Ebden as a player with nothing to lose as he warms up for the January 17-30 Australian Open.
"A couple of years ago when I played top ranked players I played without any pressure at all -- and I always enjoyed the matches," he said.
"To me it was easier to play when I felt I had nothing to lose... There is always the possibility that I can lose if I am not 100 percent."
Marion Bartoli continued her solid new year form with a 6-2 6-1 trouncing of Barbara Zahlavova to advance to the semi-finals in the women's draw.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne and Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by John O'Brien and Pritha Sarkar)
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