Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both crashed out of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati at the quarter-final stage on Friday night. Meanwhile, world number one Novak Djokovic had to fight back from a set down before sealing his improvement into the semi-finals against Frenchman Gael Monfils.
Federer, a four-time winner and unbeaten at the contest since 2008, went down to a 6-2 7-6 (7-3) defeat to eighth seed Tomas Berdych in a match lasting just over 90 minutes. The defeat was a significant blow to Federer's US Open planning, and came against an challenger whom he had beaten in nine of 12 previous meetings, though to whom he lost in last year's Wimbledon semi-final.
Federer was not able to manner a single break point chance on the booming Berdych serve, and was broken twice him in the first set. Berdych held firm in the second before skating through the tie-break. Berdych will play Djokovic in the semi-final, after the Serb saw off Monfils in three sets. Djokovic surrendered the first set 3-6 but took the next two 6-4 and 6-3 to progress.
Nadal was beaten 6-3 6-4 by improving American Mardy Fish, aiming to reach his second straight Cincinnati final, who sent down 10 aces en route to what was his first win over the Spaniard. Nadal, who had come through a marathon clash with Fernando Verdasco in the previous round, was playing with two fingers deeply bandaged after a freak accident in a restaurant.
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