Montreal, Aug 11 (IANS): Second-seeded Swiss Roger Federer overcame a shaky start to defeat Spain's David Ferrer 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 and book a berth in the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup here.

The 36-year-old Federer was on Thursday outplayed from the baseline in the early going by the unseeded Ferrer, who broke the 19-time Grand Slam champion's serve twice in taking the first set, reports Efe.

The Swiss also struggled more than usual on serve in the second set but managed to draw level with the Spaniard and then took full control of the match early in the third set when Ferrer made a series of unforced errors.

Federer grabbed a second service break late in the third set to effectively seal the victory and improve to 17-0 lifetime against the 35-year-old Spaniard.

Next up for Federer in Friday's quarter-finals of this US Open tune-up event will be 12th-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut, who saved a match point in a narrow 4-6, 7-6(7-5), 7-6(7-2) victory on Thursday over unseeded Frenchman Gael Monfils.