Japan’s Kei Nishikori celebrates after his 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 victory over Roger Federer of Switzerland in the men’s singles third ro

Madrid, May 10: The slippery blue clay may be gone, but the Madrid Open continues to produce surprises.
Second-ranked Roger Federer was ousted by Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in Thursday’s third round, leaving Rafael Nadal as the either the clear front-runner for the title or the next big name who should be wary of an upset.

Nadal didn’t let his sore knee get in the way of downing Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-3 to reach a quarterfinal with David Ferrer, while third-seeded Andy Murray had to come from behind to edge past Giles Simon 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6).
“Clearly the favourite for this tournament is Nadal,” Federer said.
Last year, Federer didn’t let the slick “Smurf-colored” clay stop him from winning his third title in Madrid. But now with the old-fashioned red clay back at the Caja Magica, Federer only managed to look like the star he is for a spell.
Yet Federer wasn’t the first highly-ranked player to fall. World no. 1 Novak Djokovic was ousted on Tuesday, a day before Victoria Azarenka followed in a temper tantrum.
After recovering from Nishikori’s strong start, Federer looked like he’d found his stride as he roared back in the second set.
But Nishikori reasserted his ground game in the decider, after breaking Federer for a 3-1 advantage, and held on for the surprising victory.
Nishikori said beating Federer after losing their only previous meeting was one of the high points of his still burgeoning career.
“He was my idol and to beat him was one of the goals for my tennis career,” the 16th-ranked Nishikori said. “Beating Roger is, yeah ... I need a couple of days to celebrate.”
Federer came to Madrid after a seven-week layoff. He said the gusting winds hurt his game, but he gave all credit to Nishikori.
“He was the better player today for sure,” Federer said. “I was lacking control from the baseline and that carried through from start to finish. Overall I’m disappointed with my play.”
Federer said he will not change his plans and will now train for Rome and then the French Open.
Nadal’s commanding win over Youzhny featured an array of winning shots. Nadal’s next opponent, Ferrer, outlasted Tommy Haas 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

Serena scrapes through to semis
Top-ranked Serena Williams outlasted Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals on Friday.
Serena appeared to wear down against the scrappy Spaniard on the red clay court, and after getting blanked in the second set she fell behind 4-2 in the decider.
But the defending champion rallied back to break Medina Garrigues’ serve twice to move on.
“It was definitely a battle,” Serena said. “I obviously didn’t do much in the second set and gave her confidence to play better.”
Second-seeded Maria Sharapova had less trouble easing by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-2, 6-4 to set up a semifinal with either fellow former no. 1 Ana Ivanovic or Angelique Kerber.
Serena’s entertaining match at the Caja Magica against an opponent she had rightly described as a “grinder” the day before took several momentum swings.
The 63rd-ranked Medina Garrigues has 10 career clay-court titles — the most of any active player — and her footwork and hustle against Serena showed why.
“I just wasn’t really into it, my feet weren’t moving,” Serena said.