The contrast between the wins could not have been more stark, with top seed Djokovic crushing Belgian qualifier David Goffin 6-2, 6-0 in just 50 minutes.[break]
Federer is seeded fifth and was the winner here a year ago on the fast hardcourt where he thrives. He had to rally from the depths after a disaster of an opening set, finally overhauling German Tommy Haas 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
The Swiss has gone back to his traditional racquet after experimenting without much success last month with a larger, more modern model. He said he needed to go back to basics to pull off his 12th win from 15 meetings with Haas, seeded 11th.
"I wasn´t playing great in the first set, I needed to clean up my game from the baseline," said the crowd favourite and fifth seed. "I´m happy to be through to have another match.
"Sometimes on fast courts it´s tough to get rhythm, you are thinking of too many things. I had to simplify my game in order to win."
Federer will face off for the 31st time against longtime rival and last week´s Montreal champion Rafael Nadal, winner of eight titles from 11 events this season. The Spaniard got a test from Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov but won 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
Russian qualifier Dmitry Tursunov upset third seed David Ferrer 6-2, 6-4 as the Spaniard now leaves town with one win from two Masters events over the past fortnight.
In other third-round results, Argentine Juan Martin del Potro beat Spain´s Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 while American John Isner defeated 12th seed Milos Raonic 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 with the Canadian being treated for shoulder problems.
On the women´s side of the dual event, top seed Serena Williams mowed down German Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-1 to move closer to a first title at the tournament.
"I started out strong and then I made a few errors I shouldn´t have made, but I was able to recover. I knew in the second set I wanted to start strong and just keep the momentum going," Williams said.
Second seed Victoria Azarenka won a match littered with 13 breaks of serve, defeating Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-4.
"I think it was a pretty good match, there was sometimes a little bit of trouble serving, but overall I felt better than I did in my first match," said Azarenka. "I was much more controlling the game. It was really up to me today.
"I was doing everything I wanted to do. I feel still there can be a lot more improvement with the execution and a little bit more consistency, but it´s coming along."
Tenth seed Caroline Wozniacki put out Czech seventh seed Petra Kvitova 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Giant killer Simona Halep upset Australian 11th seed Samantha Stosur 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, just one day the Romanian stunned Marion Bartoli 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, sending the reigning Wimbledon champ off into an unexpected retirement.
Roberta Vinci claimed an Italian showdown with sixth seed Sara Errani 6-4, 6-3 while former number one Jelena Jankovic beat American Sloane Stephens 3-6, 7-5, 7-5.
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