Melzer puts wind up beaten Federer as Nadal wins

MONACO, (Reuters) – Roger Federer was blown away  6-4 6-4 by Juergen Melzer in the Monte Carlo Masters  quarter-finals but Rafa Nadal stormed through as the gap between  the two great rivals widened further yesterday.

Juergen Melzer

While holder Nadal powered past Croat Ivan Ljubicic 6-1 6-3  to set up a semi-final with Andy Murray, Federer continued his  sticky start to the season as Melzer deserved to seal his last  four spot against David Ferrer.

Windy conditions caused problems on centre court during  Federer’s match, with huge waves in the bay just behind the open  arena and the fluttering flags showing just how blustery it was.

Dust from the clay was flying up into the players’ faces but  Federer can have few excuses having netted several simple  forehands and a smash against the seventh-seeded Austrian, who  recovered from a slight back injury suffered in the first game.

Melzer stormed back and never let 16-times grand slam  champion Federer settle, taking two of his break point  opportunities with gusto while limiting the Swiss’s ability to  fight back in the first clay event of the European season.

“He did well and played aggressive. He didn’t give me many  chances,” Federer, who has never taken the Monte Carlo title and  last won a tournament at Doha in early January, told reporters.

“I didn’t think I played terrible. It’s the first week of  play (on clay) so I didn’t expect to play my best. It’s been a  solid tournament.”

The French Open starts on May 22 and although Federer was  impressive in his first two matches here, Nadal looks the clear  favourite to retain his Roland Garros title even if in-form  Novak Djokovic is waiting in the wings with a minor knee injury.

Top seed Nadal broke Ljubicic in the first game of the first  set only to immediately lose the advantage by double-faulting  but he broke again straight away when the Croatian netted a  simple volley.

DAUNTING
TASK

The rest was a procession for Nadal, who won every claycourt  tournament he entered last year and is bidding here to become  the first man to claim the same event seven times in a row.

“It was a very difficult day with the wind. In general it  was a very positive victory,” Nadal said.  “It’s always a surprise when Roger loses. It’s unbelievable  what he has done in the sport.”

Briton Murray, who had not won a match in almost three  months before this week, continued his revival with a rampant  6-2 6-1 triumph over Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil.

The number three seed avoided the crowd boos which followed  his use of drop shots against injured Frenchman Gilles Simon in  Thursday’s third round but knows he will be up against fan  favourite Nadal on Saturday in what is already a daunting task.

As street workers near the Monte Carlo Country Club were  making preparations for next month’s Monaco Formula One Grand  Prix, bandana-wearing Spaniard Ferrer earlier motored into the  last four to a 6-3 6-3 win over Serbia’s Viktor Troicki.

The players exchanged breaks in the middle of the first set  but fourth seed Ferrer broke again thanks to a volley down the  line before the tall Troicki also stalled in the second.