MONACO -- Canadian Milos Raonic defeated Spains Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals at the Monte Carlo Masters. The 23-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., will next take on Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka, who advanced on a walkover when Spanish opponent Nicolas Almagro retired before their match with a foot injury. Wawrinka, the third seed, has beaten the eighth-seeded Raonic in both of their previous meetings. "Ive struggled in the past against Stan but it will be quite different this time around," said Raonic. "Im doing a lot of things well and Im looking forward to that challenge." Raonic had seven aces in his third-round match and broke Robredos serve once per set while never facing a challenge on his own serve. The Canadian also beat Robredo in their previous meeting last spring in Barcelona. His next match marks a breakthrough as it will be Raonics first quarter-final appearance at a clay-court 1000 Series event. "This is a first, thats for sure," he said. "Its a result of a lot of the good things Im doing. But I can do better and Im looking forward to bringing that out in myself. "This is the closest Ive gotten to a big clay opportunity, so its definitely a positive." In second-round mens doubles play, Torontos Daniel Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic defeated the Polish duo of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matowski 6-7(6), 7-6 (3), 10-7. Raonic claimed the opening set against Robredo with a break in the final game, smashing down an overhead winner on his second set-point opportunity. The Canadian jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second set when a Robredo return wide down the line. Raonic then stayed the course to serve out the victory, finishing in just over an hour. "Im very pleased with myself, I showed a lot of discipline," Raonic said. "I struggled in the beginning but was able to figure it all out towards the end of the set. I gave myself a lot of opportunities afterwards." Raonic credited his world-class serve with keeping him out of trouble. "Serving well was a big thing today," he said. "I was also moving well and able to dictate with my forehand." The victory boosted Raonics record to 10-3 on the season and has given him a boost of confidence on the slower surface. "Ive played a lot of the Spanish guys in practice matches," said Raonic, the former pupil of Spaniard Galo Blanco. "I definitely have more of an understanding of what I need to do and what I can expect from them as well." Also Thursday, defending champion Novak Djokovic raced into the quarter-finals by dispatching Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-0, 6-1 in 47 minutes. Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal also had little trouble, beating Italian Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-3, while fourth-seeded Roger Federer shook off a slow start in a 6-4, 6-1 win against Czech player Lukas Rosol. The second-seeded Djokovic won his second-round opener in 45 minutes and has yet to be tested this week. He next faces Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. The top-seeded Nadal has looked sloppy at times. "Lost only two games in the first two matches (here). Cant be better than this, for sure," Djokovic said. "I am confident on the court. Im coming off a great American hard-court season." Djokovic sealed the 22-minute first set with a crisp forehand. Carreno Busta received loud cheers, clenched his fists and grinned broadly when he won his only game for 3-1 in the second. Djokovic served out, tormenting him one last time with an exquisite drop shot. He is aiming for his fifth straight Masters win. He won at Indian Wells and Key Biscayne, dominating Nadal in the latter final to record his third straight win against him in straight sets. "Ive had more time comparing to last year to practice on the clay courts and to get my game to the level where I want it to be," Djokovic said. Nadal achieved his 300th win on clay in beating Seppi. He won this title for eight straight years until last year when he lost the final to Djokovic. "Today I played a little bit better than yesterday," Nadal said. "I was playing at a good level." He next faces sixth-seeded David Ferrer, who easily beat Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-2, while Federer will face ninth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Nadal has a 21-5 career record against countryman Ferrer, winning 10 of the past 11 meetings. "David is a tough, tough player on any surface," Nadal said. "But here on clay, always a big challenge." Rosol, meanwhile, broke Federer in the third game and held for 3-1. "It was a bit rocky in the beginning," Federer said. He broke back with a stinging cross-court forehand at Rosols feet, and then broke him to love. He clinched the set when Rosols forehand sailed long. Federer has a 10-4 record against Tsonga, who beat him in the French Open quarter-finals last year and in the Wimbledon quarters in 2011. "Ive seen Jo play different kind of quality matches lately, so not quite sure hes going to play, how aggressive, how passive," Federer said. Tsonga won 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 against Fabio Fognini of Italy, who did his best to spoil the Frenchmans 29th birthday with his wild antics, including smashing rackets and shouting loudly. In the days only upset, Garcia-Lopez beat fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. The only other time Garcia-Lopez reached a Masters last eight was in Shanghai four years ago, when he lost to Djokovic, who leads 5-0 in their head-to-heads. China Shoes Black Friday . Others describe it as taking the parrot for a walk. Wholesale Shoes Black Friday . It led to his downfall on Tuesday. 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Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley told local media in comments published Wednesday that John Tomic would not be allowed into Melbourne Park in any official capacity or as a spectator.MADRID - Serena Williams brushed aside Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-2, 6-1 to open her defence of the Madrid Open title on Sunday, while Maria Sharapova beat Klara Koukalova 6-1, 6-2 in the first round. In the mens tournament, Novak Djokovic withdrew before the start of the event because of a right wrist injury that had already affected his play at Monte Carlo last month. "I did everything possible in order to play in Madrid," Djokovic said. "But unfortunately my right arm injury has flared up again." The top-ranked Williams, who has won the clay-court tournament the past two yyears, hit 11 aces and broke Bencic five times to advance in less than an hour.dddddddddddd Williams will play Peng Shuai of China in the second round. Sharapova, who lost to Williams in last years final, converted six of eight break points to take advantage of Koukalovas eight double-faults. The eighth-seeded Sharapova will play Christina McHale of the United States next. Also, Ana Ivanovic beat Madison Keys of the United States 6-1, 7-6 (4) to set up a meeting with fellow Serb Bojana Jovanovski. The 11th-seeded Ivanovic overcame her shaky serve by saving three of four break points. ' ' ' McCall insists they will not attempt to head-hunt Dan Carter in Saturdays European Champions Cup final. New Zealand World Cup-winner Carter has driven Racing 92 to their first European final as the linchpin of the Parisian side.The 34-year-old will aim to dictate proceedings in Lyon on Saturday, but McCall promised his side will not waste energy chasing an elusive target in a game you can watch live on Sky Sports 2. Its a big, big, big mistake to think youre going to go and get Dan Carter, McCall said.Dan has been doing this for a very long time. So weve got to make sure that his influence in the game isnt huge, isnt unbelievably significant.If we can do that, it means our pack have got on top in the scrum, in the lineout. It means well have put a little bit more pressure on him than hes experienced before. Will Greenwood previews the Champions Cup final between Saracens and Racing 92.dddddddddddd But if you run down his channel and think youre going to shake him up, youre not going to.Maxime Machenauds roaming threat from scrum-half has allowed Carter to span the full width of Racings inside back cordon, leaving the All Black great always at arms length from opposing forwards. Maxime Machenaud (C) often makes extra space for Carter to work in Leicester were unable to put in any meaningful hits on the playmaker in Racings 19-16 semi-final victory in Nottingham, a situation Saracens have since noted well.Machenauds unbelievably competitive, he gets his attack going, added McCall. He brings their big men into the game and someone were going to have to watch like a hawk.He and Carter work very well together, and Dan Carters an expert at picking his moment at when to involve himself, and usually its a pretty good involvement.Weve just got to make sure were really alive to every time that hes going to get the ball, kick and try to put us under some pressure. Also See: Eddie Jones on SSNHQ Barnes talking points Will Greenwoods preview Farrell okay for final ' ' '