Shanghai, China (Sports Network) - Two of the world's top-three players suffered round-robin losses on Tuesday, as Rafael Nadal succumbed to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer and Serbian Novak Djokovic gave way to Frenchman Richard Gasquet at the $3.7 million Tennis Masters Cup.
A sixth-seeded Ferrer secured a berth in Saturday's semifinals here by coming from behind to beat the second-seeded Nadal 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, while the eighth- seeded Gasquet whipped a third-seeded Djokovic 6-4, 6-2. Nadal is the reigning three-time French Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up, while Djokovic was this year's U.S. Open runner-up.
Ferrer ran out to a 5-1 third-set lead against Nadal here on Day 3 and ultimately prevailed in 2 hours, 40 minutes. Ferrer managed to record one more service break than Nadal, as he piled up a whopping six en route to the big victory at this exclusive eight-player event.
The 25-year-old Ferrer has now won his last two matches against Nadal, with the other win coming in four-set come-from-behind fashion in the fourth round at the U.S. Open in September.
Ferrer stunned Djokovic here on Sunday.
Gasquet opened the evening by dousing Djokovic in 1 hour, 25 minutes, as the Frenchman piled up five breaks, compared to only two for his Serbian counterpart. Gasquet wound up winning 19 more points (64-45) than the struggling Djokovic.
Ferrer currently leads this week's Gold Group with a perfect 2-0 record, while Nadal and Gasquet are both 1-1 and Djokovic has been eliminated from semifinal contention at 0-2 on the indoor hardcourt here at Qi Zhong Stadium.
This week's Red Group features world No. 1 Roger Federer (0-1), fourth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko (0-1), fifth-seeded American Andy Roddick (1-0) and seventh-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, who lost to Federer in this year's Australian Open finale, but stunned the supreme Swiss in round-robin action here on Monday. Federer had been a perfect 15-0 in his Masters Cup round-robin matches since 2002.
The 12-time major champion Federer will still finish the year at No. 1 for a fourth straight year. The super Swiss is the reigning U.S. Open, Wimbledon, Aussie Open and Masters Cup titlist and French Open runner-up. He defeated American James Blake in last year's finale here in Shanghai and is seeking his fourth Masters Cup title in five years.
The Masters Cup features round-robin action for the first six days, with the top-two players from each group advancing to the semifinals on Saturday. The lucrative final will be staged here on Sunday.
An undefeated champion in Shanghai would collect over $1.5 million.
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will play for the U.S. Open title on Sunday after each won semifinal matches on Saturday.
The top-seeded Federer posted a 7-5, 6-1, 7-5 victory over Russia's Nikolay Davydenko, while the third-seeded Djokovic beat the heat and Spain's David Ferrer, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, in the opener of Saturday's afternoon twinbill.
Federer continued his amazing play in Grand Slam competition, reaching a final for the 10th straight time. He will try for his fourth consecutive U.S. Open title and his 12th overall Grand Slam crown.
Standing in his way is the 20-year-old Djokovic, who was the last man to beat the Swiss superstar. Federer lost to the young Serb in the final of the Montreal Masters last month.
A victory Sunday afternoon would put Federer just two Grand Slam titles behind the record of 14 set by Pete Sampras. Federer would also become the first player to win four straight U.S. Open titles since the great Bill Tilden won six in a row from 1920-25.
The 26-year-old is also bidding to claim three of the season's four major championships for the second consecutive year and third time overall. He won the Australian Open and Wimbledon crowns earlier this year and lost only in the final at the French Open.
Federer beat Davydenko for the 10th time without a loss, but had to struggle at times on Saturday.
Davydenko, who entered the match without having lost a set in the tournament, broke serve immediately. Federer got the break back in the sixth game, but failed to capitalize on four break points before finally converting.
After a trade of breaks, which became a theme, Federer held for 6-5 and broke serve again to take the first set.
Federer simply dominated the second set, before things turned bizarre.
Both players held serve to start the third set, but the next six games featured service breaks. Davydenko was bidding to make it seven in a row, and had a pair of set points against Federer's serve. He squandered both and Federer was able to hold to even the set at 5-5.
Federer then broke serve again and held at love to finish the match. He broke Davydenko's serve nine times, but had his own serve broken a surprising five times.
Davydenko has never reached a Grand Slam final, falling to 0-4 in major semis. He also lost to Federer in the French Open semis earlier this year.
Djokovic, meanwhile, became the first Serb to reach a Grand Slam final.
Ferrer, who had knocked off fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, was primed for another upset after racing out to a 4-1 lead in the first set. However, Djokovic stormed back to win the final five games of the set.
The momentum carried into the second, as a break of serve gave Djokovic the early advantage. He was ahead 2-1 in the set before asking for a doctor to deal with the heat.
Following the brief delay, Ferrer surged in front by winning two straight games. Djokovic, though, regrouped and won the next three games on his way to capturing the set.
Ferrer held serve to start the third, but Djokovic won the next three games to take control and cruised to the finish.
Djokovic had 37 winners, compared to 17 for the 15th-seeded Ferrer. The 20- year-old Belgrade native also won 18 points on his 22 net approaches.
This was the third straight Grand Slam semifinal appearance for Djokovic, who had lost to Nadal in the semis at both the French Open and Wimbledon.
In addition to the Montreal final, Djokovic and Federer played twice earlier this year. Federer won a quarterfinal match in Dubai as well as a round of 16 match at the Australian Open.
Federer had won all four previous meetings with Djokovic before the Montreal match.
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - The men's semifinals will be staged Saturday at the U.S. Open, where top-seeded and three-time defending champion Roger Federer will take on fourth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko and third- seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic will tangle with 15th-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer. Three of the top-four seeds are still standing at this hardcourt fortnight.
The world No. 1 Federer is a seemingly unstoppable 9-0 lifetime against Davydenko, including a victory in this year's French Open semis. The super Swiss also topped the gritty Russian in last year's U.S. Open semifinals and is 3-0 versus Davydenko in Grand Slam action.
The 26-year-old Federer has already reached a record nine straight Grand Slam finals, going 7-2, and owns 11 major titles, including the last two Aussie Opens and the last five Wimbledon championships. His two major finals losses came at the hands of Rafael Nadal at the French Open over the last two seasons.
Federer is 26-0 at the U.S. Open since reaching the top of the ATP rankings in 2004.
The 26-year-old Davydenko will compete in his fourth major semi, and has yet to win one (0-3).
The 20-year-old Djokovic and 25-year-old Ferrer will square off in the other final four bout at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Djokovic, who will perform in his third straight Grand Slam semi this year, is 1-2 lifetime against Ferrer, including a 1-1 split this season. Djokovic won their lone meeting on a hardcourt at Indian Wells earlier this year.
The 25-year-old Ferrer, who stunned the second-seeded and reigning three-time French Open champion Nadal here on Tuesday night, will appear in his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal.
Djokovic is the only remaining player here to have ever beaten the amazing Federer, which he did at a Masters Series finale in Montreal last month.
Saturday's winners will square off in Sunday's lucrative final, with the champion taking home at least $1.4 million and a new Lexus automobile.
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Third-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic survived his fourth-round match with Argentine Juan Monaco, while second- seeded Rafael Nadal fell to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer at the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
Nadal, the reigning three-time French Open champ and two-time Wimbledon runner-up, won a first-set tiebreaker with Ferrer, seeded 15th, before dropping the next three and losing 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 at Ashe Stadium on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Nadal, who was hobbled by injuries, has not advanced past the quarterfinal round of the U.S. Open. Ferrer advances to take on Argentine slugger Juan Ignacio Chela.
Although Ferrer/Nadal's match lasted three hours and 28 minutes, Djokovic's 7-5, 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (6-8), 6-1 win over Argentine Juan Monaco topped that at just under four hours.
Djokovic reached the semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon and captured Masters Series titles in Miami and Montreal this season. Up next for Djokovic is 17th-seeded Carlos Moya, who got past rising Latvian teenager Ernests Gulbis 7-5, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4.
The Spanish veteran moved on in 2 hours, 25 minutes with the help of five service breaks. The talented Gulbis, who turned 19 here last week, launched 13 aces, but also piled up 64 unforced errors on Day 9.
The 31-year-old Moya, the oldest player still standing here, will appear in his first U.S. Open quarterfinal in nine years. This also marks his second quarterfinal appearance of 2007, as the resurgent former world No. 1 reached the round of eight at Roland Garros, where he captured his lone major title back in 1998.
Chela landed in his first-ever U.S. Open quarterfinal by outlasting capable Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in five sets, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 6-4 in the round of 16.
Chela advanced in 3 hours, 41 minutes by converting on his second match point on another beautiful day in New York. The sloppy match featured 15 service breaks, including eight by the Swiss, and 117 unforced errors, including 68 by the loser. Wawrinka piled up 36 more winners than Chela (65-29), but also misfired for 19 more errors.
The 20th-seeded Chela, who turned 28 here last week, has reached only one other Grand Slam quarterfinal, and that came at Roland Garros three years ago.
On Wednesday, American Andy Roddick will square off against world No. 1 Roger Federer. Federer is the reigning three-time U.S. Open champ and also holds the Wimbledon and Aussie Open titles. The 11-time major titlist Federer is 13-1 lifetime against Roddick, with Roddick's lone victory coming four years ago. Federer beat the 2003 titlist Roddick in last year's finale here.
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - In the best match of the tournament thus far, third-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic outlasted dangerous Czech Radek Stepanek on Friday to reach the third round at the U.S. Open.
Djokovic needed a whopping 4 hours, 44 minutes to stave off the former top-10 performer Stepanek 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) at Armstrong Stadium. The gritty Stepanek battled Djokovic every step of the way in one of the closest matches that you could ever see.
The 20-year-old Djokovic, who required treatment for his back and legs on several occasions on Day 5, used 69 winners, including 18 aces, to get past a game Stepanek, who was ranked inside the men's top 10 last year before plummeting outside the top 100 because of neck and back injuries.
The two players combined for 88 unforced errors in the epic encounter, including 45 by the Czech loser. Stepanek also required some treatment during the marathon match, as he was bothered by a left leg problem at one point.
Djokovic ultimately moved into the round of 32 by floating a backhand winner to close out Stepanek.
The world No. 3 Djokovic will meet promising Argentine Juan Martin del Potro here on Sunday.
A flat Marat Safin was ousted from the draw by capable Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, as the 25th-seeded big Russian suffered a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 setback. The former world No. 1 and two-time major titlist Safin captured the U.S. Open back in 2000 by pasting the legendary Pete Sampras in the final.
Another former No. 1 avoided an upset, as 17th-seeded Spaniard Carlos Moya handled Russian Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. The veteran Moya is a two-time major finalist, including a French Open title in 1998.
Twentieth-seeded Argentine slugger Juan Ignacio Chela dismissed American Wayne Odesnik 6-3, 6-1, 7-5, while the 6-foot-5 del Potro knocked out 31st-seeded Austrian lefty Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.
One other second-round win came for Latvian Ernests Gulbis.
Umag, Croatia (Sports Network) - Viktor Troicki pulled off the upset of the tournament, edging top seed Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the second round of the $485,000 Croatia Open.
By pulling off the upset over his fellow Serb, Troicki dismissed last year's runner-up and this year's favorite in Djokovic.
Fifth-seeded Argentine Guillermo Canas was also among Wednesday's second-round winners. The 2004 Umag titlist, Canas disposed of Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-4, 6-3 on the red clay at ITC Stella Maris.
Argentine Carlos Berlocq overcame a tough first-set loss on Tuesday in order to defeat Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-7 (13-15), 6-4, 6-2, while Frenchman Gilles Simon held off Croatian favorite Marin Cilic 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. Simon should have his hands full with the gritty Canas in Friday's quarterfinals.
Thursday's schedule will include second-round matches for fourth-seeded and 2002 Umag finalist David Ferrer, sixth-seeded and four-time champion Carlos Moya and seventh-seeded and two-time runner-up Filippo Volandri. The former world No. 1 Moya titled here in 1996, 2001, 2002 and 2004 and was the runner- up in 2005, while Volandri was the back-to-back runner-up here in 2003 and 2004.
Shanghai, China (Sports Network) - Two of the world's top-three players suffered round-robin losses on Tuesday, as Rafael Nadal succumbed to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer and Serbian Novak Djokovic gave way to Frenchman Richard Gasquet at the $3.7 million Tennis Masters Cup.
