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Thu Jul 24, 11:31 PM

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By Nick Patch, The Canadian Press

TORONTO - The sky opened up again Thursday at the Rogers Cup, and so did the field.

Another rainy day, another two big names eliminated from the $2.6-million tournament.

This time, it was Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko, who dropped a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 decision to Germany's Nicolas Kiefer, and American sixth seed Andy Roddick, whom Croatian Marin Cilic defeated 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. It comes a day after top seed Roger Federer was eliminated by France's Gilles Simon.

Still, none of the day's winners would say they saw an opportunity with three of the six top-ranked players in the world gone before the quarter-finals.

"I just pay attention to my matches," insisted defending champion Novak Djokovic, who advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Sweden's Robin Soderling on Thursday. Second seed Rafael Nadal also won, beating Igor Andreev of Russia 6-2, 7-6 (1).

Djokovic added that players don't necessarily want to be saddled with the weight of expectation Federer routinely faces.

"Having the role of a favourite in most matches I play, obviously I'm put in a lot of pressure," he said. "I have a lot of responsibilities and expectations, so it's not easy."

Roddick also said he wasn't tempted to peek ahead at a wide-open, Federer-free bracket before his match.

"I don't know if I'm playing well enough right now to look ahead in the draw," he said.

He certainly struggled on Thursday. Cilic broke an indifferent-looking Roddick in the third and seventh games before taking the first set, despite posting a shaky 50 per cent first-serve percentage.

Roddick showed signs of life in the second set, perhaps drawing inspiration from a Rexall Centre crowd that was firmly in his corner. Amid occasional chants of "Go Andy Go" and "Let's Go Andy," the 25-year-old played patiently, waiting for Cilic to make mistakes.

"(The) crowd helped him a little bit to get his mental side back," Cilic said.

Roddick broke him in the eighth game and again in the 10th, when Cilic's double fault evened the match and earned a fist-pumping Roddick a rousing ovation from the crowd.

But the 19-year-old Cilic wasn't fazed. He broke Roddick in the first game of the next set, and Roddick couldn't return the favour.

"I was moving him around quite good and exposing him on both sides," said Cilic, ranked 44th in the world. "That was working very well. He obviously didn't have a lot of chances to attack, which was a really good thing for me."

Added Roddick: "His aggressiveness is what won him that match today. He took it to me a lot more than I took it to him."

Cilic, who will play Simon in the quarter-finals, said the win stands among the best of his career.

"You don't have a chance to beat top 10 players every month, so it's a good effort."

He also said that Federer being out would create an opportunity.

"Because if Roger is playing - obviously he can play much better than he played last night," he said.

Davydenko's loss should come as less of a surprise. Kiefer now holds a 3-1 advantage against him all-time, and Davydenko is as enigmatic as any of the top players in tennis.

James Blake, who defeated Russian Dmitry Tursunov 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, now finds himself the lone seeded player on his side of the bracket. He'll face Kiefer in the next round.

On the other side, there's Nadal, eighth seed Andy Murray of Britain, and either David Ferrer or Richard Gasquet, who played later Thursday. And, of course, Djokovic, whose hard-court prowess could make him the favourite.

"This is where I feel most comfortable," Djokovic said. "This surface just suits my game perfectly. Everything about it."

Still, he doesn't want to acknowledge that he could be, with Nadal, one of the most dangerous players remaining in the field.

"The upsets are happening because you are put in a lot of pressure, obviously a lot of expectations, and the players don't have anything to lose against you," he said. "You know, they're going for the shots and they're being aggressive.

"They just have so much motivation."

Soderling and Djokovic played a match that was a bit sloppy until Djokovic kicked his game into a higher gear in the second set, breaking the Swede in the ninth game then easily winning the 10th.

"I played more or less at the level which was satisfying for me," Djokovic said.

Djokovic will play Murray in a quarter-final. Murray dispatched ninth seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-2, 0-6, 6-4.

Murray said he will have to be on top of his game against Djokovic.

"If I play the way I did in the first set, I have a chance of winning," he said. "If I play like I did in the second set, I'm going to get killed."

Nadal looked to have his game well in hand in the first set. Down 15-30 in the first game, Andreev rolled his left ankle. He took a timeout, got medical attention, and continued.

Then Nadal put him to work. The Spaniard simply dominated, keeping Andreev on the run and placing his shots with stunning accuracy.

Nadal faltered slightly in the second set, likely due to fatigue - he played twice Wednesday, in singles and a late doubles match - but ultimately found the energy to move on in two sets.

He said he was thrilled with the match.

"I played a very good match - 100 per cent better than yesterday," he said.

And he wasn't troubled by the second set.

"I know I'm going to have tough sets and tough matches," he said. "So the 7-6 against Andreev is nothing strange. It's completely normal."

In doubles play, Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., and Ottawa-born partner Jesse Levine dropped a 6-3, 7-5 decision to Australians Paul Hanley and Jordan Kerr.