Federer upset by Baghdatis; Roddick, Murray move on at Indian Wells

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Federer upset by Baghdatis at Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — For everything Roger Federer did right, the world’s top-ranked player did something wrong. Eventually, his errant shotmaking did him in.

Marcos Baghdatis upset Federer 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (4) Tuesday night in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open, beating the Swiss for the first time in seven meetings.

A joyous Baghdatis bent down and kissed the court, having closed out the taut contest in which their booming serves kept rallies brief and Federer wasted three match points.

“It’s the best win of my career,” he said. “I lost a lot of matches against those top guys, and it’s a relief to win. It’s a great moment for me.”

Federer hadn’t lost when holding a match point since 2006 in Rome.

“Roger was a bit too aggressive. He was missing a lot of balls,” Baghdatis said. “I was more calm than him.”

Federer lost for just the second time in 13 matches this year in his first tournament since winning his 16th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.

He withdrew last month in Dubai because of a lung infection.

“It’s a very fine line. That’s why I don’t like to beat myself up too much after a match like that,” he said. “You play good most of the time and then you don’t play so well when you really have to.”

Federer held his third match point on Baghdatis’ serve in the 12th game, but he netted a backhand for deuce. Baghdatis went up and then forced the tiebreaker when Federer mis-hit a backhand return that sailed high in the air beyond the baseline.

“I just couldn’t find the way to win,” he said. “I was maybe one shot away, maybe wrong choices at the wrong time, maybe playing too passively.”

Federer played some loose points in the tiebreak, committing seven errors that included netting a forehand volley to set up Baghdatis’ first match point, which he won when Federer’s backhand return sailed long.

“I should never be in a breaker, so why analyze the breaker?” said Federer, a three-time champion in Indian Wells.

Baghdatis beat the No. 1-ranked player for the first time in his career; his best previous win came against Andy Roddick, ranked third at the time.

Injuries nagged Baghdatis through much of 2008, then he worked his way back to the top 50 last year through low-level Challenger tournaments in places like Pakistan.

“I said to myself that the chance would come, and when it comes, I’ll take it; that’s what I did,” he said. “Through the experience of losing to (Novak) Djokovic in Dubai, having chances and not taking them, remembering all the moments that I had so many chances against these players and I didn’t take them, today I took it. So I’m very, very happy.”

Federer’s loss leaves the tournament without its top seeds, with Svetlana Kuznetsova already knocked out on the women’s side.

Roddick defeated Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round along with Andy Murray, while second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the women’s quarterfinals.

Roddick, a semifinalist here last year, improved his record to 17-3 this season, all on hardcourts. He had an easier time with de Bakker than their first meeting, a three-set win at the Australian Open in January.

Roddick served 10 aces and saved the only service break he faced in the first set of a match played in nearly 90-degree heat.

The seventh-seeded American will next play No. 22 Jurgen Melzer, who advanced when Simon Greul withdrew because of illness.

No. 4 Murray served seven aces and was broken just once in defeating American Michael Russell 6-3, 7-5. At 31, Russell was the oldest player remaining in the men’s field.

James Blake joined Russell as another sidelined American, losing 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to Nicolas Almagro of Spain. Roddick and John Isner are the lone U.S. men left, with Isner facing a tough match against No. 3 Rafael Nadal on Wednesday.

In fourth-round women’s play, No. 4 Elena Dementieva beat No. 19 Aravane Rezai of France 6-3 6-3, sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic routed No. 17 Shahar Peer 6-2, 6-2, and No. 8 Samantha Stosur defeated defending champion Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 7-5.

Wozniacki advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 victory over 16th-seeded Nadia Petrova, whose career record against top-five players dropped to 11-42 with the loss.

The Dane will play Zheng Jie of China, who defeated Alicia Molik, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (1).

Wozniacki is the highest seeded woman left, with Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin among the big names already gone.

No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland beat Marion Bartoli, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the quarters for the third consecutive year.