New York, Sep 6 (IANS) Sixth seeded Czech Tomas Berdych outlasted top seed Roger Federer 7-6(1), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to advance into the US Open tennis semi-finals.
With Wednesdays's loss, Federer for the first time in nine years will stay away from the last four of the tournament, reports Xinhua.
Since his victory here in 2004, Federer won five straight titles at Flushing Meadows until his defeat to Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro at the 2009 final. In the next two years, Federer lost to Serb Novak Djokovic twice in the semi-final of US Open.
It was Berdych's fourth victory in his last seven meetings against Federer, including in the 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Federer, who avoided a single set down in the tournament, broke Berdych first and seemed to repeat his routine pattern to wrap up a match, but Berdych broke back soon and force the opening set to tiebreaker, where the Czech allowed only one point to the Swiss through powerful serve and pinpoint shot.
Berdych broke Federer twice in the second set to grab a 5-2 lead and made four straight points to serve out the set. Federer was not poised in the match as he was broken again in the opening game of third set until he returned a break in the sixth game and followed up to do that again in the eighth game to establish a 5-3 lead. A 6-3 set rally saved a humiliating loss for the Swiss.
Both played hard to keep the serves in the fourth set, but it's Berdych that first found the chance to break as Federer hit a shot long after the ball rolled over the net cord, which gave the Czech the break point. A powerful forehand earned Berdych a 5-3 lead before he served out the match with four consecutive points.
Berdych will now play Andy Murray in the semifinals. "It couldn't be better," Berdych said in a television interview on court. "There is no better feeling. There is no better moment than this one."
Third seed Murray was a point away from going down two sets, but the Olympic champion rallied to take all the momentum from Marin Cilic and reach the semifinals.
The Scottish won 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-0 after he trailed 5-1 in the second set before breaking twice to come back.
Maria Sharapova came from behind after a rain delay for the second consecutive match, advancing to the semifinals with a three-set victory over Marion Bartoli.
The four-time Grand Slam champion won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, a day after the match started.
Sharapova had trailed 4-0 when rain halted play. After more wet weather delayed the restart, she couldn't erase the deficit in the first set but gritted out the win to improve to 12-0 in three-set matches this year.
In the fourth round Sunday, the third-seeded Russian was down a break in the third set to Nadia Petrova before rallying after an hour-long break. She will face top-ranked Victoria Azarenka, who finished her match Tuesday.
Bartoli had never taken a set off Sharapova in four previous meetings.
Fourth seed Serena Williams once again had a quick work to dispatch 12th seed Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-3. The three-time champion will next play 10th seed Sara Errani after the Italian beat best friend and doubles partner Roberta Vinci.
The normally feisty Errani didn't pump her fist or even smile after clinching the 6-2, 6-4 victory. The two embraced at the net afterward.
"We know each other very well. We played together many times," said Errani, this year's French Open runner-up. "So it was also strange to see her on the other side of the net. Normally also when you walk on the court, we go together, we speak."
Defending champion Novak Djokovic advanced to the quarterfinals when Stanislas Wawrinka retired while trailing in the third set. Djokovic was leading 6-4, 6-1, 3-1.
Countryman Janko Tipsarevic closed out a victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets in another match spread over two days. The eighth-seeded Serb will make his second straight quarterfinal trip here after beating Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Tipsarevic led 5-2 in the first set when play was suspended.
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