ROME, May 10: Roger Federer’s preparations for the French Open suffered a further blow when he was beaten in straight sets in the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters by unseeded Czech Radek Stepanek on Friday.

Stepanek, who did a caterpillar dance on the clay in celebration after winning 7-6, 7-6, will face Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic after Spain’s Nicolas Almagro withdrew from their quarter-final with a wrist problem with the score at 6-1, 1-0 to the Serb.

World No 1 Federer, struggling for consistency on clay ahead of the year’s second Grand Slam later this month, was the second big gun of the day to fall to an unseeded player after his Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka won an entertaining tussle with American James Blake 6-7, 7-6, 6-1.

Wawrinka will meet Andy Roddick in the semis after the American sixth seed pulled out some massive serves in a final-set tiebreaker on the way to beating Spain’s Tommy Robredo 6-3, 4-6, 7-6.

Federer was comfortable on his service games in the first set of the quarter-final, taking four to love, but he failed to force any break points. Stepanek wrapped up the ensuing tiebreak 7-4 with an ace as the Swiss lost a set for the first time in the tournament.

A fired-up Stepanek saved two break points in the first game of the second set and then snapped the top seed’s serve immediately after.

The Swiss broke back in the seventh, only to surrender his serve again the following game, a wild shot giving away the vital point. He dragged himself back in contention two games later, the counter-break coming courtesy of a beautiful backhand volley.But Federer was unable to capitalise on two mini-breaks in the tiebreak and will now have to wait at least another year for his first Rome title.

Third seed Djokovic met little resistance as Almagro was hampered by a wrist problem from the early stages of their match. The Spaniard decided to stop after losing his serve in the opening game of the second set.

Wawrinka, who had beaten former world number ones Juan Carlos Ferrero and Marat Safin and Andy Murray to reach the last eight, made a confident start, breaking Blake in the third game.

But the American eighth seed held his nerve, broke back in the eighth game and took the first set in a tiebreak 7-5.

Blake showed more resilience in the second set, saving four set points when 5-3 down and two more in the tiebreak before Wawrinka levelled the score with a sweet backhand winner down the line.

The Swiss, who had treatment on back and leg problems at the end of the second set, used the momentum from the tiebreak win to romp home in the decider.

Friday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Quarter-finals: 3-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt Nicolas Almagro (Spain) 6-1, 1-0 – Almagro retired; 6-Andy Roddick (US) bt 14-Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4); Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) bt 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7); Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) bt 8-James Blake (US) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.

IVANOVIC THROUGH

BERLIN: World No 2 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia moved safely through to the semi-finals of the German Open on Saturday with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over 10th seeded Hungarian Agnes Szavay.

The pair had to abandon their match late on Friday due to bad light with the score at one set each. Ivanovic again looked well below her best on Saturday but sealed the win with a booming service return that Szavay put into the net.

The Serb, the defending champion and a finalist at the French Open last year, will play seventh seed Elena Dementieva in their semi-final later on Saturday.

The Russian has won all three of their previous meetings but they have never played each other on clay.

Ivanovic needs to reach the final to hold on to her No 2 ranking otherwise Russian former No 1 Maria Sharapova will overtake her.

Sharapova’s compatriot Dinara Safina, who has beaten world No 1 Justine Henin and eight-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams this week, plays Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in Saturday’s other semi-final.

On Friday, Safina won a great scrap with Williams 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 to end the American’s 17-match winning streak.Safina made a nervous start but found her game in the second set, as Williams started to reel off unforced errors, and went on to claim another high-profile victim in two hours 10 minutes.

Azarenka, meanwhile, saw off the 15th seed Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 7-6, 6-2.

Dementieva beat Jelena Jankovic, the fourth seed from Serbia, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Results:

Quarter-finals: 7-Elena Dementieva (Russia) bt 4-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3; 13-Dinara Safina (Russia) bt 5-Serena Williams (US) 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5); Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) bt 15-Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2; 2-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) bt 10-Agnes Szavay (Hungary) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.—Reuters