Holder Roger Federer [Images] was at his best as he crushed Argentine Guillermo Canas 6-0, 6-3 to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters on Thursday.

The world number one made a whirlwind start on the super-fast greenset surface at the Madrid Arena by rattling through the first set, leaving Canas totally bemused.

The Argentine managed to put up stiffer resistance in the second set but still could not cope with the technical brilliance of the 26-year-old Swiss, who will play either Stefan Koubek or Feliciano Lopez in the last eight.

Earlier, third seed Novak Djokovic fended off a determined Juan Carlos Ferrero to claim his place in the quarters with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory.

Djokovic, who includes two Masters Series shields amongst his five titles in a breakthrough season, started sharply and took the first set with some ease.

But former world number one Ferrero, whose last tournament win came in Madrid back in 2003, refused to fold and survived five break points in the opening game of the second set.

The Spaniard's resistance appeared to boost his confidence and the 27-year-old, who beat Carlos Moya [Images] in the second round, hit back to break Djokovic in the second game.

He steadied his own serve, stretched Djokovic around the court in the succeeding games and then broke again with some deft play at the net to take the set 6-2.