New Delhi: There were contrasting fortunes for the two men at the top of the tennis world - World No. 1 Roger Federer was bundled out of the Rome Masters but Rafael Nadal, the defending champion, was as unbeatable on clay as ever.
He's the King of Clay and shows no signs of crumbling. Rafael Nadal took on Russia's Mikhael Youzhny for a place in the last eight. The two-time defending champion broke serve early and was at his mercurial best, coming up to the net and improvising from the baseline, and then a stunning crosscourt backhand for the first set.
It took the Spaniard just 85 minutes to wrap up the match, even though he had some health problems in the morning. Youznhy had no reply to this forehand slammed down the line; Nadal with a 6-2, 6-2 win.
"Yes, I feel very good today. 100 per cent. I'm very happy because I played my best game and I arrive tomorrow, a tough match tomorrow, with very good confidence," Nadal said after a satisfying win.
Marcos Baghdatis was sent out of the Rome Masters by the young Novak Djokovic, the rising Serbian star taking an hour and 34 minutes for a 6-2, 7-5 win. Djokovic will face Nadal in the last eight.
Italian wildcard entrant Filippo Volandri caused the upset of the tournament when he took out Roger Federer. Inspired by a partisan crowd, Volandri played superbly, one cross court backhand would have made Federer proud if he wasn't on the receiving end. Federer hit an incredible 44 unforced errors, handing Volandri a 6-2, 6-4 win and a place in the last eight.
"Well I mean I could go through all the points. There's not much I'm happy about of course. I guess it's just one of those days. It hasn't happened in a long time, I didn't play very well. I lost to (Guillermo) Canas at Indian Wells in straight sets, but I had a blister in my foot - here, I've no excuses, so it's kind of disappointing," Federer conceded.
American Andy Roddick was the other big gun that failed to fire, blanked out by Juan Igancio Chela. The Argentine took the first set 6-0 and before one could blink, took the second set 6-4 to earn his first ever quarter-final appearance in Rome.
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