THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONACO — Roger Federer’s first clay court tournament of the year ended abruptly on Friday when he was ousted at the Monte Carlo Masters by an aggressive left-hander — and it wasn’t Rafael Nadal.
Federer fell 6-4, 6-4 to Jurgen Melzer in the quarter-finals, the former top-ranked player’s earliest loss in a tournament since Wimbledon last year.
Nadal, meanwhile, racked up his 35th straight win at the tournament by comfortably beating Ivan Ljubicic 6-1, 6-3 to set up a semifinal against No. 4-ranked Andy Murray.
Federer has been beaten three times by Nadal in the Monte Carlo final and the pair were widely expected to meet for a fourth time on Sunday, but Melzer, ranked ninth in the world, put paid to that.
Federer said he couldn’t remember losing to a left-hander other than Nadal in "seven or eight years."
"I don’t think I played terrible. I thought it was OK," Federer said. "It was still the first week of clay, so I don’t expect myself to play my very best. If I would, that would be a pleasant surprise."
Federer may have a point, seeing as he fared worse two years ago at Monte Carlo, when he lost in straight sets in the third round to fellow countryman Stanislas Wawrinka, but went on to win the 2009 French Open to finally complete his haul of majors.
Federer looked sloppy at times, however, and wasted seven break points against the seventh-seeded Austrian in swirling conditions, with clay regularly blowing off the surface of the court.
"I think I should have definitely gotten one of the sets," Federer said. "Every time I had this slight opening, things didn’t go my way."
In men’s doubles, the second-seeded duo of Toronto’s Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi of Belarus dropped a 6-1, 7-5 decision to sixth-seeded Rohan Bopanna of India and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan. Bopanna and Qureshi moved into their second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semifinal with the win.
Melzer broke once in each set and sealed victory when the second-seeded Federer chopped a weak forehand into the net. Melzer next plays No. 4 David Ferrer of Spain, who defeated 11th-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-3, 6-3.
"I have beaten Rafa (Rafael Nadal) last year. I have beaten Nole (Novak Djokovic). So this was the one missing," Melzer said after beating Federer for the first time in his career. "I had a few shots on the line, a few bad bounces that were going my way. You need that to beat Roger."
Federer credited Melzer’s attacking play, but said the Austrian enjoyed most of the luck.
"Either he shanks them and they stay in play, he hits the line," Federer said. "All those things accumulate to something quite frustrating. That’s what made it hard."
Melzer said Federer had the luck in the fourth round of the U.S. Open last year.
"When we played at the U.S. Open, there were a lot of key points where I felt I was unlucky," Melzer said. "I thought, luck is going to turn. It did today."
Federer said the windy conditions were tough on both players.
"I think probably being down in the score didn’t help, that the wind started to come maybe after the first set when I was down," Federer said. "Even in the wind, I had all my chances to come back into the match."
Nadal, the six-time defending champion, had no such problems against Ljubicic on Friday and will now meet third-seeded Murray of Britain, who easily beat Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil 6-2, 6-1.
"I thought I hit the ball very well, and I’m going to have to hit the ball very well to win tomorrow," Murray said. "If I want to win, I’ll have to play one of the best matches of my life. But that’s what I’ve got to be ready for, prepare myself mentally to do. If I do that, I’ll definitely make it very difficult for him."
Nadal lost his serve once when the players swapped breaks at the start of the match. Although he saved two break points serving for the match at 15-40, he was troubled more by the weather than by Ljubicic.
"It was a very difficult day to play tennis. A lot of wind, changing directions the wind all the time," Nadal said. "He didn’t play well. That’s for sure. Ivan didn’t have his best day."
He broke Ljubicic’s serve five times and clinched victory when his opponent’s attempted forehand passing shot went out.
Federer’s latest defeat will raise more questions about whether he is slipping further behind Nadal and Djokovic at the top of the game.
"Well, always a surprise when Roger lose, because he’s unbelievable what he did in this sport," Nadal said. "But, you know, the day was difficult, I said before. That probably didn’t help him a lot."
The last time Federer lost before the semifinals was at Wimbledon last July, when he was beaten by Tomas Berdych in the quarters. Outside of the Grand Slams, Federer hadn’t lost this early since his second-round exit to Ernests Gulbis at the Italian Open nearly a year ago.
Friday’s loss was Federer’s only defeat this year to a player other than Nadal or Djokovic.
Melzer broke Federer to go up 3-2 in the first set, and held for 4-2 after Federer immediately missed a chance to break back. With Melzer serving for the set at 5-4, Federer missed another chance to break.
Melzer’s aggressive approach paid off in the third game of the second set, when he pushed Federer behind the baseline and forced him into hitting another awkward backhand return into the net on break point.
Federer came to the net much more in the sixth game, forcing two more break points. But he wasted both, and another in the eighth game.