CAMPIONATI D'ITALIA

Rafael Nadal's bid to win a record fourth consecutive Rome Masters title next week was boosted on Saturday when he drew an easier path to the final than world No. 1 Roger Federer.

If the higher seeds were to win out, Spain's world No. 2 seed Nadal will meet No. 8 seed James Blake in the quarterfinals and then face No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals.

Federer, in contrast, is lined up to face world No. 5 seed David Ferrer in the last eight and a possible semifinal showdown against Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic or Argentina's David Nalbandian.

Nadal's side of the draw also features Britain's Andy Murray and France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who stunned the Spaniard in the semifinals of the Australian Open.

Nadal and Federer both have byes into the second round.