Croatian veteran Ivan Ljubicic ousted a weary world No. 2 Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday as defending champion Rafael Nadal booked his quarter-final berth at the BNP Paribas Open.
While third-seeded Nadal advanced with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 triumph over big-serving John Isner of the US, Djokovic couldn’t keep pace with the blistering serves and clean ground strokes of Ljubicic, a former world No. 3 now ranked 26th.
World No. 4 Andy Murray secured his quarter-final slot with ease as Spain’s Nicolas Almagro retired while trailing with an apparent left-ankle injury.
PHOTO: AFP
Murray led 6-2, 1-0 when Almagro called it quits after receiving treatment on court at the end of the first set.
Ljubicic said he was delighted to end a five-match skid against Djokovic, calling some of those defeats “brutal.”
“I’m really happy to be able to beat him finally,” said Ljubicic, whose only prior win against Djokovic was their first meeting in Zagreb in 2006.
“My serve helped me, especially in difficult moments,” said Ljubicic, who gave himself both of his match-points in the final game with two of his 13 aces.
Djokovic saved the first, but on the second Ljubicic came up with another big serve that the Serbian could only sail back across the baseline.
The tournament has now lost its top two men’s seeds, after world No. 1 Roger Federer was stunned by Marcos Baghdatis in the third round on Tuesday.
That left Spain’s Nadal as the highest-ranked player to make it into the quarters as he withstood a barrage of 22 aces from Isner.
Nadal closed it out with a forehand winner into an open court.
Nadal next faces Czech Tomas Berdych, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Serbian Victor Troicki, while Ljubicic will take on Argentina’s Juan Monaco, who beat Spain’s Guillermo Garcia Lopez 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Baghdatis, who saved three match-points en route to his triumph over Federer, couldn’t hold off Spain’s Tommy Robredo, who notched a 7-5, 0-6, 6-4 victory to line up a meeting with seventh-seeded Andy Roddick of the US, who beat Austria’s Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
Murray will play sixth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling, who beat France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4.
■WOMEN’S SINGLES
AFP, INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA
Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki saw off the tenacious challenge of Zheng Jie on Wednesday to book a semi-final showdown with good friend Agnieszka Radwanska at the BNP Paribas Open.
Denmark’s Wozniacki stepped it up in the third set to beat Zheng 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, claiming her first victory over the Chinese player in three attempts.
Radwanska, the fifth seed from Poland, beat fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-3, denying Dementieva a shot at a third title of the season after her victories in Sydney and the Paris Indoors.
Wozniacki, whose parents are Polish, is a close friend of Radwanska. She said the two talk make-up, fashion and boys when they go out to dinner together, but will keep it businesslike on the court.
“You have to do that,” said the 19-year-old, who was last year’s US Open runner-up. “It’s just important to stay focused and don’t think about who’s on the other side.”
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