Federer stunned by gasquet, nadal shrugs of fever

ROME: Roger Federer’s French Open problems piled up on Thursday when he was dumped out of the Rome Masters by Richard Gasquet but world number one Rafael Nadal shook off a fever to make the quarter-finals.

World number three Federer went down 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4) in the third round to Frenchman Gasquet, a worrying setback just 10 days before the start of Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the season.
Nadal, the defending French Open champion, quickly put behind him what he described as his worst clay performance in memory on Wednesday to streak into the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over compatriot Feliciano Lopez.
World number two Novak Djokovic took his unbeaten run at the start of this season to 34 matches as he strolled past Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-1 while world number four Andy Murray saw off Italian Potito Starace 6-2, 6-3.
Federer broke Gasquet in the seventh game of the first set before serving it out and when he broke again in the fifth game of the second, it looked like he would be in for a short afternoon.
But Gasquet fought back in the eighth game and then took the tie-break.
The decider also went to a tie-break that saw two early mini-breaks apiece before Gasquet took the initiative when Federer missed a backhand.
Leading 5-4 and with two serves to come, Gasquet held his nerve while Federer made errors off both wings to hand the match to the Frenchman.
It was only Gasquet’s second victory against the record 16-time Grand Slam winner in 10 meetings, his first coming in 2005 in Monte Carlo in their first match when he was still a teenager.
“That’s how it goes sometimes, I thought I was playing well and then in the third I wasn’t playing at all, it’s a disappointing match for me,” admitted Federer.
“It was tough to play out there, it was a slippery court. Richard started to play better as the match went on.”
Nadal played much better than in his troubled three-set victory over Italian qualifier Paolo Lorenzi on Wednesday insisting that his poor form had been due to a fever and not the pressure of having lost last week’s Madrid final to Djokovic.
“I had a fever last night and this morning I didn’t feel perfect. Before the match I didn’t know if I could go on court,” he said.
“I had a practice at 11:30 for just 15 minutes to see how it went and finally I decided to go on court. It worked a little bit better than yesterday.
“The last few months have been hard. I certainly didn’t understand very well yesterday (Wednesday) why I felt that slow and without energy. I understand better today.”
Having given up an early break, Nadal took the first set when Lopez played a sloppy service game at 4-5, a poor drop-shot into the net bringing up 0-40 and three set points to Nadal, who took the first with a rasping backhand passing shot.
Nadal then broke him twice in the second set as Lopez paid for his 30 unforced errors during the match.
In the women’s event, world number one Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark enjoyed a relatively trouble-free night as she overcame Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-1, 7-6 (7/4).
French Open champion Francesca Schiavone showed her mettle as she came back from a set down to beat Daniela Hantuchova 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals for the fourth time, but first since 2005.
Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova breezed past 10th seed Shahar Peer 6-2, 6-2


news covered by dawn sports

williams and safina pull out of french open

PARIS: Former world number one Serena Williams on Thursday was forced to pull out of the French Open, the tournament she won in 2002, after failing to recover from a long-term foot injury while former World No. 1 Dinara Safina announced that she was taking an indefinite break.

Williams, a 13-time Grand Slam singles champion, has not played a top-level match since winning last year’s Wimbledon title after cutting her right foot on broken glass last July, an injury that required two operations.
“While I am making good progress, unfortunately I won’t be able to compete in Roland Garros as I am continuing to rehab my foot and recover from the pulmonary embolism,” 29-year-old Williams said in a statement issued through her agent.
“I am grateful for every moment I have and the fact that I have returned to the court. I am hopeful that I will be back competing this summer. Thank you all for your continued prayers.”
As well as her foot injury, Williams suffered a pulmonary embolism in February that led to an emergency operation to remove a blood clot from her lung, a health concern she called the scariest moment of her life.
Serena’s sister Venus, a seven-time Grand Slam champion with five Wimbledon titles, is also a doubt for the French Open.
She has not played since she pulled out of the Australian Open in January with abdominal pain and a sore right hip.
Safina, the three times a losing grand slam finalist, suffered another setback on her return from a serious back injury when she abandoned her quarter-final against Victoria Azarenka at the Andalucia Tennis Championships last month.
“I don’t know how long my time out (from the game) is going to last because I don’t want to torture myself and my body anymore,” Safina was quoted as saying by Russian media.
“I’m just tired of hearing constant questions from my coach during training ‘How is your back? Can you do this exercise?’ I’m just tired of fighting with myself,” said the younger sister of former men’s world number one Marat Safin.
“At the moment I can’t do anything tennis-wise. When I can do certain moves without feeling lots of pain, then I would consider resuming my training,” she added.
The lanky Muscovite reached the top of the rankings in April 2009, spending a total of 26 weeks as world number one but then plummeted to 108th after being troubled by her back.
She has been criticised for reaching the top without winning a grand slam title, losing all three of her major finals (French Open in 2008 and 2009 and 2009 Australian Open).
After missing much of last year, she made a comeback at the Australian Open in January but suffered an embarrassing 6-0 6-0 defeat by Kim Clijsters in the opening round and soon after contemplated quitting.
“Right now I don’t care when I might return – this summer during the American hardcourt series, towards the end of the season or next year,” Safina said.
“I’ll take as much time as I need.”
Argentina’s David Nalbandian, who has been struggling with a hip injury, will also miss the French Open which starts on May 22.
Meanwhile, Australian duo Bernard Tomic and Casey Dellacqua were both handed French Open wild cards on Thursday under a reciprocal agreement between the French and Australian tennis federations.