Basle, Switzerland - Roger Federer stretched his dominance over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen Thursday, winning a hard-fought second-round match-up 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-1) at at his home Swiss Indoors.

Federer raised his record to 10-0 against his friend from junior days and one-time doubles partner a decade ago.

"This was a good match but not my best, I was playing passive sometimes and waiting for him to make the errors," said the top seed looking for a trophy hat-trick at the St Jakobshalle.

"Even when I was down I never felt endangered, since I have such a record against him," said Federer, who moves into a quarter-final against Italian Simone Bolelli,

Nieminen had said he was working to win at least a set after entering the contest standing 0-18 on that count.

But after he missed on two set points in the first, with Federer saving and then reaching 5-5 with an ace, the opener was still not out of reach.

Federer clinched the set in a decider and then recovered from an early break in the second before spinning out another tiebreak success for the victory.

The Finn had come to the court saying that to have won a set might have felt like a victory as the pair played a repeat of the 2007 final.

Second seed David Nalbandian needed nearly two and a half hours to subdue qualifier Kristof Vliegen, advancing 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4).

The Belgian refused to fold against the world number eight, who says he will skip the season-ending championships in China despite being on course to qualify for the eight-man field.

The Argentine is devoting his full focus to the November 21-23 Davis Cup final against Spain in Mar del Plata, where the South American nation will attempt to come good after losing title challenges in 1981 and 2006.

Nalbandian lifted the Basle title in 2002 and is playing the indoor event for the seventh time in Roger Federer's hometown.

The Swiss top seed is set for a second-round contest later against Finn Jarkko Niemimen, a repeat of last year's final won by Federer in straight sets.

Nalbandian struck 11 aces, two short of Vliegen's total as the number 96 qualifier played out of his depth.

Nalbandian had a 3-1 lead in the third-set-tiebreaker, only to lose it; he was forced to close out victory as a final error from his opponent.

Nalbandian next plays another challenger from qualifying where he takes on Benjamin Becker in the quarters.

"It's going to be tough, especially as I've never played him before," said Nalbandian, champion at Stockholm this month.

"It's very difficult when you don't know your opponent. I'm expecting to play well, which I have to do if I want to win."

Becker is the last German remaining from six who began the week.

2006 Masters Cup finalist James Blake kept alive in the points race as he fought back to reach the last eight in Basle for the first time, beating Spain's Oscar Hernandez 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-4.

"I started to focus and attack, that's the style that wins me matches. I've closed out my last two matches well with good service games," said the American.