(May 9, 2013) The new red clay of Madrid claimed another seeded casualty on Thursday when No. 2 Roger Federer was upset by Kei Nishikori 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in the third round of the Madrid Open. Top seed Novak Djokovic was ousted on Tuesday.
No. 3 seed Andy Murray escaped Gilles Simon 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6), while No. 5 seed Rafael Nadal had an easy time with Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-3.
A poor serving game by Federer gave Nishikori the first set. In the second set Federer grabbed the momentum but lost it in third.
As for Nishikori, it was a fourth win over a top 5 player for the man from Japan. “He was my idol and to beat him was one of the goals for my tennis career,” said the world No. 16. “Beating Roger is, yeah … I need a couple of days to celebrate.”
“He was the better player today for sure, Federer said. “I was lacking control from the baseline, and that pretty much carried through from start to finish, Overall I’m disappointed with my play,” Federer said of the match.
“I’m not sure how well Kei thought he played. I didn’t think he had to play his very best either, which is even more disappointing”
“Clearly the favorite for this tournament is Nadal,” Federer said.
Nishikori will next play Pablo Andujar for a place in the semifinals.
MUTUA MADRID OPEN
Madrid, Spain
May 4-12, 2013
Red Clay/Outdoors
Results – Thursday, May 9, 2013
Women’sSingles – Third Round
(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. (13) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 63 61
(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Sabine Lisicki (GER) 62 75
(7) Sara Errani (ITA) d. Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 75 63
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) d. (14) Marion Bartoli (FRA) 63 62
Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. (WC) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 63 64
Women’s Doubles – Quarterfinals
Mladenovic/Voskoboeva (FRA/KAZ) d. (3) Makarova/Vesnina (RUS/RUS) 64 62
(WC) Soler-Espinosa/Suárez Navarro (ESP/ESP) d. (4) Kops-Jones/Spears (USA/USA) 46 62 104 (Match TB)
Black/Erakovic (ZIM/NZL) d. Kuznetsova/Pennetta (RUS/ITA) 46 61 105 (Match TB)
Pavlyuchenkova/Safarova (RUS/CZE) d. Husarova/Lisicki (SVK/GER) 62 36 107 (Match TB)
Men’s Singles – Third Round
[14] K Nishikori (JPN) d [2] R Federer (SUI) 64 16 62
[3] A Murray (GBR) d [16] G Simon (FRA) 26 64 76(6)
[4] D Ferrer (ESP) d [13] T Haas (GER) 75 46 64
[5] R Nadal (ESP) d M Youzhny (RUS) 62 63
[6] T Berdych (CZE) d K Anderson (RSA) 76(5) 75
[7] J Tsonga (FRA) d F Verdasco (ESP) 46 63 62
[15] S Wawrinka (SUI) d G Dimitrov (BUL) 36 64 61
[WC] P Andujar (ESP) d D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 55 ret. (right leg)
Men’s Doubles – Second Round
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d J Isner (USA) / S Querrey (USA) 76(6) 75
D Marrero (ESP) / F Verdasco (ESP) d [2] M Granollers (ESP) / M Lopez (ESP) 76(4) 63
[6] M Bhupathi (IND) / R Bopanna (IND) d [Alt] J Monaco (ARG) / H Zeballos (ARG) 63 36 10-5
[7] A Peya (AUT) / B Soares (BRA) d M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 64 60
T Haas (GER) / R Stepanek (CZE) d [8] J Melzer (AUT) / L Paes (IND) 75 61
Order Of Play – Friday, May 10, 2013
MANOLO SANTANA start 10:50 am
[1] S Williams (USA) vs [WC] A Medina Garrigues (ESP) – WTA
K Kanepi (EST) vs [2] M Sharapova (RUS) – WTA
Not Before 3:15 PM
[5] R Nadal (ESP) vs [4] D Ferrer (ESP) – ATP
[WC] P Andujar (ESP) vs [14] K Nishikori (JPN) – ATP
Not Before 8:00 PM
[3] A Murray (GBR) vs [6] T Berdych (CZE) – ATP
[15] S Wawrinka (SUI) vs [7] J Tsonga (FRA) – ATP
ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO start 11:00 am
C Black (ZIM) / M Erakovic (NZL) vs [WC] S Soler-Espinosa (ESP) / C Suarez Navarro (ESP) – WTA
Not Before 3:00 PM
E Makarova (RUS) vs [7] S Errani (ITA) – WTA
[6] A Kerber (GER) vs [16] A Ivanovic (SRB) – WTA
[5] M Mirnyi (BLR) / H Tecau (ROU) vs D Marrero (ESP) / F Verdasco (ESP) – ATP
STADIUM 3 start 2:00 pm
J Chardy (FRA) / L Kubot (POL) vs [6] M Bhupathi (IND) / R Bopanna (IND) – ATP
[7] A Peya (AUT) / B Soares (BRA) vs [3] R Lindstedt (SWE) / D Nestor (CAN) – ATP
Not Before 4:00 PM
K Mladenovic (FRA) / G Voskoboeva (KAZ) vs A Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) / L Safarova (CZE) – WTA
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) vs T Haas (GER) / R Stepanek (CZE) – ATP