Federer crashes out of Rome Masters
World number one Roger Federer bowed out of the Rome Masters as he suffered a surprise quarter-final defeat at the hands of Radek Stepanek. Federer lost 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (9-7, his sixth defeat of an inconsistent season. With the French Open two weeks away, the defeat is a blow to Federer's hopes of claiming the only Grand Slam title to elude him.
Earlier, Stanislas Wawrinka beat James Blake 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 to reach his first Masters semi-final.
Wawrinka followed up wins over Andy Murray and Juan Carlos Ferrero with a 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 defeat of Blake.
The Swiss number two, who made the last four in Barcelona last week, could face another American, Andy Roddick, in the last four if he can see off Tommy Robredo.
But the main focus of attention was on the latest defeat for Federer, who had won four of his previous five meetings with Stepanek.
After the first set had gone with serve, Stepanek took control of the tie-break with a volley to go up 6-4, then served an ace on his first set point.
Federer squandered a 4-1 lead in the second-set tie-break, and Stepanek converted his second match point with a first serve that Federer could not get back.
At one point in the first set, Federer won four straight service games without losing a point but Stepanek kept himself in the match with his fearsome serve and volley tactics.
The defeat has robbed Federer of the chance of some valuable match practice, with the French Open getting under way at Roland Garros on 25 May.
It comes just two days after the defending champion Rafael Nadal, who has the upper hand on Federer on clay, was beaten by Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic takes on clay-court specialist Nicolas Alamgro in Friday's other quarter-final.
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