The 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer met with former NBA star Yao Ming before his third round matchup against Roberto Bautista Agut the Shanghai Rolex Masters in China on Thursday.

The 6-foot-1 Swiss looks tiny compared to the 7-foot-6 Chinese hero.

"Hard not to look up to the great Yao Ming. Amazing athlete and national hero," tweeted Federer.

Like Us on Facebook

The third seeded Federer then went on to surge past Bautista Agut in two straight sets 6-4 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Federer, 33, broke the Spaniard once in six attempts to win the first set in 42 minutes then built a 3-0 lead in the second set en route to a quarters meeting against Julien Benneteau of France who defeated the Swiss in their last encounter last February in Rotterdam.

"I think he plays well against the better players usually," Federer siad. "I've struggled against him in the past, mostly indoors really."

Benneteau, who defeated Grigor Dimitrov in the second round, had a relatively easy match against American Jack Sock 6-3 6-4 in a match that lasted an hour and 11 minutes.

Sock won over seventh seeded Kei Nishikori in his second round matchup.

Benneteau derailed Dimitrov's chances of a berth at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London, placing him 11^th in the eight-man short list while Sock stopped Nishikori's attempt for a third straight ATP tour title after his back-to-back win in Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo.

The 32-year-old Benneteau has won two of his seven meetings with Federer and hopes to repeat his win after their February encounter.

Benneteau has not won any titles this year as a singles player but have won two cups in the doubles competition along with fellow compatriot Edouard Roger-Vasselin, the Open 13 in Marseille last February and the French Open in Paris.

TagsRoger Federer, Yao Ming, Julien Benneteau, Grigor Dimitrov, Kei Nishikori