Tennis: Gasquet stuns Federer, Nadal marches on

MONTE CARLO - French qualifier Richard Gasquet caused the upset of the year at the Monte Carlo Masters tennis today, ending world number one Roger Federer's 25-match winning streak 6-7 6-2 7-6 in a dramatic quarterfinal.

The 18-year-old world number 101, playing his first main tour event of the year, ripped a backhand down the line to clinch a tension-filled tiebreak 10-8 on his third match point after two hours 18 minutes of action.

"It was a fantastic match, after I won it I didn't know where I was for a few minutes," said Gasquet, who is the first player to beat Federer's since Russian Marat Safin achieved the feat in the semifinal of the Australian Open.

"It was three or four seconds before I realised I had beaten Roger Federer. It's fabulous, there's no other word I can use.

Federer, who was aiming or a record third successive Masters Series title, was generous in defeat.

"He played into this zone where you had the feeling there was nothing you could do," said Federer. "He was just hitting clean winners, he's definitely played a great match.

"Normally I can raise the bar, today it almost happened, but you can't get out of every match like this. "

Gasquet will face fellow 18-year-old Rafael Nadal for a place in the final after the Spaniard took out French Open champion Gaston Gaudio 6-3 6-0, a stunning performance overshadowed by events over on Court Central.

Nadal, the best player on claycourts this year with two titles a already, has dropped only 13 games to reach the last four and is favourite to win his first Masters Series title.

He allowed Gaudio only seven points in a second set that lasted just 22 minutes.

Fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero maintained his quest for a third Monte Carlo title, beating Italian Filippo Volandri 6-2 6-3 to set up a semifinal against Guillermo Coria.

Wildcard Ferrero, winner in 2002 and 2003, did not hit the heights of his victory over second seed Marat Safin yesterday but still broke serve seven times.

"To reach the semifinal is a big injection of confidence for me," said Ferrero, who last reached that stage in Valencia a year ago before his career was hit by a bout of chicken pox and various nagging injuries.

Champion Coria, who like Ferrero is coming back from injury problems last year, stuttered against Spain's David Ferrer, before winning 3-6 6-4 6-3.

The day, though, belonged to Gasquet.

Since becoming the youngest player to win a main tour match three years ago at Monte Carlo when as a 15-year-old he beat Franco Squillari, Gasquet has not progressed as quickly as many would have anticipated.

He seemed to be on his way out when he lost the first set tiebreak 7-1 to Federer, but far from being deflated he began firing off winners all over the court to stop the Swiss in his tracks.

After levelling the match he moved into a 5-3 lead in the decider as Federer's resistance began to crumble, but his nerve failed him on match point when he swiped a volley beyond the baseline with the court at his mercy.

Federer saved another match point with a brave smash in the next game as Gasquet's chance appeared to have vanished.

However, Federer wasted three match points of his own in a topsy-turvy tiebreak and when Gasquet's chance came again he laced an unstoppable backhand down the line.

Today's play was delayed as a mark of respect for the late Prince Rainier III of Monaco, whose funeral earlier in the day brought the principality to a standstill.

- REUTERS