David Nalbandian recorded his second win in three weeks over World No. 1 Roger Federer, defeating the Swiss 6-4, 7-6(3) in the BNP Paribas Masters third round on Thursday evening.
The World No. 21 recently defeated Federer in the ATP Masters Series Madrid final after recovering from a set down, and now levels the head-to-head standings at 8-8.
Nalbandian served for the match at 6-5, 5-4, before Federer broke back and went on to hold a set point at 5-6 on the Argentine’s serve. However, Nalbandian managed to hold serve, and clinched victory in the tie-break after one hour and 41 minutes.
The 25-year-old Argentine is enjoying a good run of form towards the end of the season, having struggled throughout most of 2007. Prior to winning his first career AMS shield and his first title of the season in Madrid, he had only reached an ATP quarterfinal once this season, falling to Spaniard David Ferrer in Barcelona. He will have a chance for revenge in the Paris quarterfinals on Friday though, as the two face each other for a place in the semifinals.
For Federer, the Paris title remains one of three AMS shields that still eludes him; he has twice been a beaten finalist in Monte Carlo and Rome. This year, the 26-year-old won his 10th, 11th and 12th Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open (d. Gonzalez), Wimbledon (d. Nadal) and the US Open (d. Djokovic). He slips to 64-8 for the season.
No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal (pictured) eased into the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. Nadal, who has already qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup, goes on to face Shanghai hopeful Mikhail Youzhny for the four time this season. (Head-to-head)
Nadal saved seven of eight break points in the match and was able to break his opponent’s serve four times to seal victory in one hour and 41 minutes. The Spaniard now improves to 3-0 against Wawrinka, having beaten the Swiss twice already in 2007.
Making his debut in Paris, Nadal improves to 66-12 for the season. The 21-year-old is a six-time titlist in 2007, including clinching his third straight French Open title (d. Federer) and three ATP Masters Series titles in Indian Wells (d. Djokovic), Monte Carlo (d. Federer) and Rome (d. Gonzalez). The Spaniard has captured nine AMS titles throughout his career.
The 22-year-old Wawrinka, who defeated No. 16 seed Juan Ignacio Chela in the second round, slips to 21-24 for the season. He is a two-time runner-up in 2007, losing out to Nadal in Stuttgart and falling to Djokovic in Vienna. He now holds a 4-14 lifetime against Top 10 players.
Youzhny eliminated German Tommy Haas from Tennis Masters Cup contention as he prevailed 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in a 2 hr., 23 min. fight for survival. In the decisive set, the Russian broke to go up 4-2 and saved all five break point earned by Haas.
Haas began the week at No. 8 in the Race standings, and for the second straight year failed to take advantage of his opportunity to secure his circuit finale berth in the last week of the regular ATP season.
Youzhny maintains an outside shot at qualifying, and trails Spaniard Tommy Robredo in the eighth position by 39 points.
Fifth seed David Ferrer became the third Spaniard to reach the quarterfinals, ending Tomas Berdych’s Shanghai hopes with a 6-4, 6-2 victory in one hour and 13 minutes.
Ferrer, who has already qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup, converted four of six break points to record his 57th victory of the season. He now will appear in his fifth ATP Masters Series quarterfinal of the year, having lost his first four. The World No. 6 has enjoyed a career-best season, winning three titles in Auckland (d Robredo), Bastad (d Almagro) and Tokyo (d Gasquet), and reaching the US Open semifinals (l. to Djokovic).
World No. 11 Berdych has made the quarterfinals or better in nine events this season, winning the title in Halle (l. to Baghdatis) and making the semifinals in AMS Monte Carlo (l. to Nadal). He has now lost his past six matches against Top 10 players and slips to 46-24 for the season.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Nalbandian: "I push very hard from the beginning and I was beating him 5 2. I think that was the key. Start very hard and push him so hard. Put against him a lot of pressure on the game from the beginning. I think that was the key."
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