Andy Murray stayed in touch with his dream of seizing the world number two ranking from Rafael Nadal, stopping Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 6-3 Thursday in the third round of the Montreal Masters.
Number three Murray needs to reach the semi-finals, and also hope that defending champion Nadal - back after more than two months away nursing knee tendinitis - does not progress into the final four.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic, seeded fourth, reached the last eight with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
Djokovic won this event two years ago in Montreal, while Nadal won last year in Toronto as the event alternates between the cities.
"I played quite solid, as much as I needed to," said Djokovic, who is falling out of the mix in the discussion of top players as Roger Federer, Nadal and Murray dominate.
"I didn't start the match well, but I recovered really well, won four games in a row. At the end I was struggling a little bit with double faults. But overall I think I played well."
Argentinian sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro, champion for a second straight year in Washington at the weekend thanks to a victory over Andy Roddick, staged a comeback over Victor Hanescu of Romania 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Murray has now won all three of his matches with former number one Ferrero, beating the 29-year-old Spaniard on grass this summer at Queen's and Wimbledon. Victory took 77 minutes as the Scot never faced a break point.
He now stands 47 wins and seven losses this season, with four titles earned and next faces either Nikolay Davydenko or Fernando Gonzalez.
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