Roger Federer crushed Radu Albot 6-0, 6-3 on Wednesday to win his 22nd match in a row at the Swiss Indoors and earn a quarter-final place at his home event for the 17th time.
The nine-time champion was ruthless in a 22-minute opening set, finishing the entire job in 63 minutes in front of 9,000 fans.
He will today face the winner from Stan Wawrinka and Frances Tiafoe, who both earned straight-set wins.
“It’s a super feeling to know exactly where the ball is going, what the other guy is doing,” said top seed Federer.
“I was hitting a lot of winners, those kind of moments are really rare.”
Federer, who is playing in Basel for the 19th time, won his first set to love at the tournament since 2006.
His loss of just three games on Wednesday was his most powerful showing on the ATP since beating Andreas Seppi at the Paris Masters 6-1, 6-1 four years ago.
“I’m very happy, it was important to start the second set with a break,” said 38-year-old Federer.
“Even though I was playing well, I was not over-confident, I was always worried that he might make a comeback.”
Federer dominated 49th-ranked Albot, sweeping the first eight games before the Moldovan got on the scoreboard.
The top seed finished on a first match point after five aces and five service breaks.