Cincinnati, Ohio - Roger Federer dropped only his second career set to Spain's David Ferrer before fighting back for a 3-6, 6- 3, 6-4 victory into the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters Thursday.

The pair took to the hardcourt in hot, windy conditions after morning rainstorms, with Ferrer getting the early jump on the world number one.

Federer's 8-0 record in the series counted for little in the first set, with Ferrer recovering from an opening-set break and re-breaking the Swiss for 5-3.

The Spaniard closed out the set as Federer produced 16 unforced errors, a display which was quickly corrected as the top seed won the second set to level and recovered from a break down with an immediate break-back in the third before finally advancing on the first of three match points.

Victory in one hour, 42 minutes puts Federer into a quarter-final against the winner from a match between American Sam Querrey and two- time finalist Lleyton Hewitt of Australia.

"I'm happy with how I played," said 15-time Grand Slam champion Federer. "It was tough, conditions were tricky.

"David didn't make many mistakes. This was one of those matches I had to win.

"I played well at the end to come through. I'm happy to get an opportunity to return tomorrow."

Federer's win took the record of the double Cincinnati champion to 44-7 on the season.

The remainder of the top four were also on court, with number two Rafael Nadal testing his knees against France's Paul-Henri Mathieu, Andy Murray taking on Radek Stepanek, and Novak Djokovic facing Jeremy Chardy of France. (dpa)