Top seed Andy Roddick stormed through to the last eight of the Paris Masters with a 6-1, 6-2 demolition of Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty on Thursday.
World number three Roddick, who had struggled to move past fellow American Taylor Dent in the previous round, turned on the power to stay on course for his sixth title of the year.
Hrbaty, the 16th seed, looked helpless until he bowed out in just 50 minutes with an unforced error on the first match point.
Roddick, who has already secured a spot in the year-end Masters Cup, served beautifully, firing 16 aces to set-up a quarter-final against David Ferrer.
Spain's Ferrer, the 10th seed, advanced to the last eight by beating German Tommy Haas 6-2, 6-7, 6-3.
Russia's Nikolay Davydenko and Croatian Ivan Ljubicic had earlier moved closer to qualifying for the Masters Cup by reaching the quarter-finals of the indoor tournament.
Third seed Davydenko, a semi-finalist at this year's French Open, braved the pain from a sore shoulder to beat fellow Russian Dmitry Tursunov 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Ljubicic, the number six seed and one of the strongest players of the indoor season, moved past ninth seed Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-3, 7-6.
Six players have already secured a spot in the eight-strong season finale from November 13 in Shanghai, Argentine Guillermo Coria the latest to join the list after Russia's Marat Safin pulled out because of a knee injury.
LJUBICIC TESTED
The last two spots will be determined this week in Paris, with Davydenko and Ljubicic favourites to complete the field.
However Davydenko, who made many unforced errors, needed more than two hours to overcome qualifier Tursunov and complained afterwards about his shoulder.
"It's not a serious injury but it's painful," he said. "It's been a long season and my body needs a rest."
Ljubicic, whose indoor run features titles in Metz and Vienna, was tested by former Australian Open champion Johansson in the second set and needed a tie-break, which he took 7-4 with an ace on his first match point.
Davydenko goes on to meet Czech Radek Stepanek, the eighth seed, who ended the French presence in the event by beating Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 6-4.
Ljubicic next faces Spaniard Tommy Robredo, the 14th seed, who ended the run of Serbia and Montenegro teenager Novak Djokovic with a straightforward 6-4, 6-3 win.
Former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, seeded 13th, became the latest casualty of a tournament missing many top names because of injuries when Czech Tomas Berdych beat him 7-5, 6-7, 6-4.
Berdych held his nerve throughout a close battle which lasted two hours 32 minutes. The 20-year-old fired 20 aces, the last one giving him three match points.
A service winner on the first sent him through to a quarter-final contest against Argentine Gaston Gaudio or American Robby Ginepri.
