April 27, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1429

MONTE CARLO (Monaco), April 26: World number one Roger Federer recovered from a set down to outclass Argentine sixth seed David Nalbandian 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 and book his place in the Monte Carlo Masters last four on Friday.

The Swiss top seed, who hit a string of outstanding winners in a first-rate match, next meets Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who beat him in this year’s Australian Open semi-final.

The Serb went through with a 6-4, 6-0 demolition of American Sam Querrey, who had beaten France’s Richard Gasquet and former French Open champion Carlos Moya of Spain.

“When you are the favourite (in a match), you are the one with the pressure,” said third-seeded Djokovic. “And if you want to stay in the tournament, you have to cope with it.”

Federer is still on course for a repeat of the last two finals against second seed Rafael Nadal, who qualified with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over fellow Spaniard David Ferrer.

The three-time champion will continue the defence of his title against Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko, who beat compatriot Igor Andreev 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

The results mean the top four seeds have reached the semi-finals.

Nadal allowed Ferrer just 14 points in a one-sided first set. However, last year’s Masters Cup finalist got back on track in the second, hammering his opponent with forehand winners to lead 3-0, 40-15.

A grinning Nadal then pulled two breaks back, levelling at 5-5 after Ferrer squandered three set points.

The Spaniard wasted two more break points, leaving the three times French Open champion to wrap it up with a superb passing shot on Ferrer’s serve.

“David started playing very well in the second set, he was very aggressive,” said Nadal.

“Every time when he hit a forehand, it was a winner, no? So I couldn’t do much more. The important thing is that I was there all the time, focused, believing in the victory.”Nadal has yet to lose a set in Monte Carlo since the 2006 final against Federer, who played his best match of the season on clay as he prepares to bid for an elusive French Open crown.

The Swiss converted all his five break point chances and improved his record against Nalbandian to 9-8 after losing their previous two matches in the Madrid and Paris Masters last year.

Federer failed to create a single break point in a balanced first set and Nalbandian broke his serve in the 11th game.

The Argentine wrapped up the opener after 52 minutes when a sloppy Federer sent a backhand passing shot wide.The world number one regained his composure and after a trade of breaks, won four games in a row with some impressive shots, including a stunning drop shot on the run.

He broke again in the sixth game of the decider with a service return into Nalbandian’s feet and sealed the win after two hours and seven minutes on the Argentine’s serve.

Federer, who claimed the Estoril Open last weekend, has now won the eight matches he has played on clay this season.

“It’s always nice playing against him (Nalbandian). And when you beat him, you always know you’re playing well because he’s not just going to hand it over to you,” said the Swiss.

Davydenko overcame a poor performance on serve to scrape past Andreev, saying: “Maybe I was lucky (to win) this match.”

Both players struggled in their service games, with Andreev breaking seven times and Davydenko nine.

The Russian had trouble taking the first set and, although he broke three times in the second, only held serve once to let Andreev level the match.

Following two exchanges of breaks in the decider, Andreev squandered a 40-0 lead in the 12th game and bowed out when he sent a forehand long after two hours and 44 minutes.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Quarter-finals:

3-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt Sam Querrey (US) 6-4, 6-0; 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt 5-David Ferrer (Spain) 6-1, 7-5; 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt 6-David Nalbandian (Argentina) 5-7, 6-2, 6-2; 4-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) bt Igor Andreev (Russia) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.—Reuters