Federer brushes aside Bautista Agut in Monte Carlo

Roger Federer cruised into the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters with a routine 6-4 6-2 win over Roberto Bautista Agut.

Federer has finished runner-up four times at the clay-court event and he took a step closer to winning an elusive title by breezing past Bautista Agut.

The 17-time grand slam champion needed only 32 minutes to wrap up the first set, Bautista Agut wilting at the first sign of pressure on his serve in the fifth game of the match.

A double-break was secured soon after as Federer took command, but the Spaniard proved a more stubborn opponent in the second set.

Bautista Agut saved a break point in the first game of the second, yet his resistance eventually came to an end as Federer broke to love for a 5-4 lead.

The world number 17 struck long to hand Federer the break and the Swiss made no mistake in wrapping up the match in the next game, doing so with a well-executed volley at the net.

Federer will now face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Lucas Pouille in the last eight.