Second seed Rafael Nadal lost 7-6 7-6 to an inspired Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters on Friday, a day when the enterprising run of British teenager Andy Murray also came to an end.
Ferrero had not won a set in his previous four meetings with Nadal but outfought his fellow Spaniard to set up a semi-final clash with compatriot Tommy Robredo, who knocked out fourth-seeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 6-2. "For sure I didn't play the best match of my life but I wasn't very bad," Nadal told reporters.
"He played a good match. That's all."
The world number two, who won his second consecutive French Open title in June, broke serve on his way to a 3-1 lead but Ferrero broke back in the fifth game and then played a superb tiebreak to move ahead.
The unseeded Ferrero saved two break points at 4-4 in the second set and, following a 32-minute rain break, snatched the tiebreak 7-3 to clinch his biggest victory of the year.
"It's a very special win for me because Nadal is one of the best players in the world," said the 2003 French Open champion and former world number one. "I felt very calm. I did not make mistakes in the important moments and that's one of the keys to winning these kind of matches." Despite the defeat, Nadal was upbeat about the state of his game with the US Open on the horizon later this month.
"I improved a lot here from Toronto (last week)," he said. "Now I am disappointed but I reached the quarter-final so it is not a very bad tournament."
Robredo saved three set points in the first-set tiebreak as he beat third seed Ljubicic for the first time in five meetings. Roddick will play Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in the semi-finals after the 13th seed beat Spanish 10th seed David Ferrer 6-2 6-4.