Nadal and Federer make progress

Nadal has won in Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Rome on clay in 2007

Rafael Nadal erased the memory of his last clay-court defeat with victory over Igor Andreev at the Hamburg Masters on Thursday.

Andreev was the last man to beat Nadal on clay two years ago but the Spaniard is a vastly different prospect now.

Nadal moved on to 79 consecutive wins on the surface with a 6-4 6-1 victory.

World number one Roger Federer put in a much-improved display as he dismissed former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2 6-3.

Federer has been struggling recently and was below his best against Juan Monaco on Wednesday, but he won seven games in a row at one stage in beating clay-courter Ferrero.

It was a long time ago - it doesn't matter to me Rafael Nadal says he was not out for revenge against Igor Andreev

The unforced errors that have plagued the Swiss star were avoided and he will next meet David Ferrer, who saw off seventh seed Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-3.

"I have a very good record against Ferrer," said Federer.

"I'm always surprised at how comfortably I've been able to beat him.

"I've never even dropped a set and if I keep up this level I've definitely got a chance."

Eighth seed James Blake was another high-profile casualty as he lost 1-6 6-3 6-3 to Carlos Moya.

Nadal broke in game three to take control early on against Andreev, and saved two break points in game 10 on his way to serving out the set.

The world number two broke in the third, fifth and seventh games of the second set, and he goes on to face Austria's Jurgen Melzer who upset 11th seed Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-4.

After his victory, Nadal said revenge was not on his mind. "It was a long time ago," he said. "It doesn't matter to me.

"What matters is that he is a very difficult player on clay so it's good to have a win against him."

Meanwhile, Lleyton Hewitt has admitted he would be interested in working with coach Tony Roche after his fellow Australian split with Roger Federer.

"Absolutely. It's something I'd look at," said Hewitt. "But I'm sure Rochey has got a lot of things going through his mind at the moment though.

"So down the track I might look at it. Just play it by ear."