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Federer crashes out at Indian Wells

Pa
Wednesday 17 March 2010 11:50 GMT
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Marcos Baghdatis caused a major shock at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells as he sent top seed Roger Federer crashing out in the third round.

Baghdatis condemned Federer to only his second defeat in 13 matches this year after fending off three match points in an absorbing encounter at the hardcourt event.

Swiss star Federer appeared to be on course for a routine victory over the 27th-seeded Cypriot as he claimed the opening set with a lone break of serve, but Baghdatis rallied in the next, converting his only break point chance to pull level.

The third set went all the way to a tie-break after the two players had traded breaks of service, with Baghdatis moving through the gears when it mattered most to post a famous 5-7 7-5 7-6 (7/4) triumph.

The win was Baghdatis' first against the world number one having lost their previous six encounters, the most recent of which came in the quarter-finals of the grass court tournament in Halle in 2008.

There were differing fortunes for two home favourites as Andy Roddick progressed with ease but James Blake bowed out.

Seventh seed Roddick defeated Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker 6-3 6-4 to set up a last-16 tie with 22nd-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who progressed after German Simon Greul pulled out prior to their match with illness.

Roddick said: "I felt pretty good. I felt like the points he was winning he was either having to play a pretty high risk shot, maybe go for a winner, or he was having to go deep into rallies.

"So if you do that over the course of a match, you normally like your chances."

Blake, meanwhile, lost in three sets to unseeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, 6-4 3-6 6-3.

Andy Murray reached the last 16 despite looking far from his best.

Fourth seed Murray struggled with his service against world number 68 Michael Russell but eased through the third-round clash 6-3 7-5.

Murray broke in the American's first service game, but his own delivery was floundering with a first-serve percentage at a paltry 40% after three service games.

He broke Russell in the ninth game to take the first set in 40 minutes with something to spare. Murray broke Russell comfortably and fought a break-back point to go 3-0 up in the second.

Russell was scampering around the court in determined fashion and secured a first break as Murray was attempting to close out the match to bring the second set back on serve.

But the Briton earned two match points in Russell's next service game and needed only one of them to earn a straight-sets win in one hour 52 minutes.

Sixth seed Robin Soderling saw off Feliciano Lopez in two tough sets, eventually winning 7-6 (7/3) 6-4.

Lopez, seeded 28th, stayed with his opponent despite not earning a break point in the entire match.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the ninth seed from France, progressed with a 4-6 6-3 6-3 triumph over Albert Montanes, while 18th-ranked Tommy Robredo defeated Dudi Sela 6-3 6-0.

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