October 20, 2006	Friday	Ramazan 26, 1427

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MADRID, Oct 19: Sixth seed Andy Roddick and world No 8 Tommy Robredo suffered straight-sets defeats in the third round of the Madrid Masters on Thursday.

Czech Tomas Berdych toppled Roddick 7-6, 6-3, with the American ending the match complaining of pain in his left ankle, while the unseeded Robby Ginepri beat Spain's Robredo 6-3, 7-6.

There was nothing to separate Berdych and Roddick in the first set as they held firm on their serves and it was no surprise when the set went to a tiebreak. Roddick was the first to crack and the 21-year-old Czech edged the tiebreak 9-7.

The American received treatment on his ankle at 3-2 down in the second set and Berdych produced a sensational running pass to break serve in the next game before easing his way to victory in the first meeting between the pair.

Berdych will play the winner of the match between defending champion Rafael Nadal and 13th-seeded German Tommy Haas in the quarter-finals.

American Ginepri, who lost to Nadal in the semi-finals last year, put Robredo under early pressure, breaking him in the second game and then holding his serve with ease to take the first set 6-3.

He kept Robredo on the back foot in the second to take a 5-4 lead but the seventh seed refused to fold and broke back to love when Ginepri was serving for the match.

The set went to a tiebreak and it was Ginepri who won through 7-3 to earn himself a quarter-final showdown against world No 1 Roger Federer, who beat Sweden's Robin Soderling.

Marat Safin, winner in Madrid in 2004 but unable to defend his title last year because of a knee injury, had few problems seeing off Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-3, 6-2.

Tenth-seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile was given a walkover into the quarter-finals after Swede Joachim Johansson withdrew because of a throat infection.

Nadal, meanwhile, opened the defence of his title with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win over American qualifier Mardy Fish on Wednesday.

Four of Nadal's closest rivals failed to make the last 16, however, as third seed Ivan Ljubicic, fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko, eighth seed James Blake and ninth seed Marcos Baghdatis were upset in their ties.

World number three Ljubicic, who lost to Nadal in last year's final, was defeated by Britain's Andy Murray 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Thursday’s results:

Third round: 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Robin Soederling (Sweden) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (10-8), 10-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat Joachim Johansson (Sweden) – walkover; Marat Safin (Russia) beat Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) 6-3, 6-2; 11-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat 6-Andy Roddick (US) 7-6 (9-7), 6-3; Robby Ginepri (US) beat 7-Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).Wednesday’s late results:

Second round: Safin beat 9-Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) 6-4, 6-3; Johansson beat 5-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3; 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat Mardy Fish (US) 6-4, 6-2; Soederling beat 16-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) 6-3, 6-2; 15-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat Richard Gasquet (France) 7-6 (7-2), 1-6, 6-1; Andy Murray (Britain) beat 3-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

MAURESMO INJURED

ZURICH: World No 1 Amelie Mauresmo pulled out of the Zurich Open with a shoulder injury on Thursday.

Fourth seed Elena Dementieva also said goodbye to the tournament, losing 6-1, 6-4 to unseeded Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

Mauresmo, who had been due to play Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in the quarter-finals, said the injury could jeopardise her defence of the WTA Championship title in Madrid next month.

The shoulder had hampered Mauresmo in the second round on Wednesday when she hit five double-faults as she struggled to beat Australian Samantha Stosur 7-6, 6-3.

Martina Hingis, playing in Zurich for the first time since winning the title six years ago, withstood a late challenge from Nathalie Dechy of France to win 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday.

Thursday’s results:

Second round: 3-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) 7-6 (8-6), 7-5; Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) beat 4-Elena Dementieva (Russia) 6-1, 6-4.

Wednesday’s late results:

Second round: Maria Kirilenko (Russia) beat Tatiana Golovin (France) 2-4 – retired; 5-Martina Hingis (Switzerland) beat Nathalie Dechy (France) 6-3, 6-3.—Reuters