CINCINNATI (Ohio), Aug 1: Rafael Nadal shifted into position to seize the No 1 ranking with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-0) defeat of Tommy Haas only hours after Roger Federer opened the door with a defeat at the Cincinnati Masters Series on Thursday.

In the wake of this third-round win over the German, Nadal stands three victories away from taking the ATP top spot from Federer. If he claims the title on Sunday, the deal is sealed.

Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic defeated Federer 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 7-6 (5-7) to open the door to the change at the top after four and a half years of Federer’s reign.

Nadal, who defeated the 26-year-old Swiss in an epic Wimbledon final and won a fourth Roland Garros title, has been chasing Federer all season.

The 12-time Grand Slam winner has owned the top ranking for 235 weeks, fourth longest in the record books.

Federer has no choice but to look ahead to the Beijing Olympics opening next Friday.

“So far it’s OK,” Federer said. “I guess I’ll analyse and assess my game after the US Open. For the moment it’s just all a blur. So many tournaments in a row, big tournaments in a row, it’s hard.

“It’s a tough trip we’ve got up in front of us now, going back to China and coming back to the Open.

“I’m looking forward for the next two tournaments. Those are really the ones that can make this season from a good one to a great one again. I hope I can manage to pull off something in the next couple of weeks.”

Novak Djokovic and Ernests Gulbis set up their second battle in as many months by reaching the quarter-finals while Scot eighth seed Andy Murray put out Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 6-3.

Third seed Djokovic, riding his best run of form in the steamy American midwest, swamped his second straight Italian opponent as he crushed Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-2 a day after beating Simone Bolelli in two tie-breakers.

Latvia’s Gulbis reproduced his French Open form over luckless James Blake, sending the veteran US seventh seed down to a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 upset.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding)

Third round: 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Tommy Haas (Germany) 6-4, 7-6(0); Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) bt 10-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 6-3, 7-5; 16-Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) bt 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(5); 8-Andy Murray (Britain) bt Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) 6-3, 6-3; 3-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt Andreas Seppi (Italy) 6-1, 6-2; Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) bt 7-James Blake (US) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3; Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) bt Robin Soederling (Sweden) 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-6(8).

Second round: Carlos Moya (Spain) bt 4-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-2.

SHOCK FOR IVANOVIC

MONTREAL: Ana Ivanovic was stunned 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 by the 17-year-old Austrian Tamira Paszek in the third round of the Montreal Cup on Thursday, opening the door for fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic to claim her number one world ranking.

Jankovic, who reached the last eight with 6-3, 6-2 demolition of Canadian Stephanie Dubois, sits just 88 points behind Ivanovic in the WTA rankings and can nudge her out of top spot by making it to Sunday’s final.

Playing her first event since a third-round exit at Wimbledon, Ivanovic displayed little of the form that had carried her to a French Open title in May and victory on the same Canadian hardcourt in 2006.

Even more shocking, the defeat came against an opponent who had won just three matches since the Australian Open and had gone five tournaments without a victory until a first-round win last week in Los Angeles. Paszek had never beaten a top-10 player.

Meanwhile, world number four Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced to the quarter-finals of the Canadian event with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 win over 15-year-old Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito.

Seventh seed Dinara Safina, riding the momentum from her title win on Sunday in Los Angeles, raced into the last eight with a 6-2, 6-2 thrashing of Swiss ninth seed Patty Schnyder.

Safina will next face unseeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova, who beat 12th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova 7-6, 6-2. Tenth-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli also advanced after overcoming Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze 4-6, 7-5, 7-6.

Japan’s Ai Sugiyama was the first player through, advancing in a walkover when Sharapova pulled out of the tournament on Wednesday.

Results:

Third round: 11-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) bt Virginie Razzano (France) 7-6(4), 2-0 (retired); Tamira Paszek (Austria) bt 1-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) 6-2, 1-6, 6-2; 10-Marion Bartoli (France) bt 6-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4); 2-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) bt Stephanie Dubois (Canada) 6-3, 6-2; 7-Dinara Safina (Russia) bt 9-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 6-2, 6-2; 4-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) bt Michelle Larcher de Brito (Portugal) 7-5, 2-6, 6-4; Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) bt 12-Nadia Petrova (Russia) 7-6(2), 6-2; Ai Sugiyama (Japan) bt 3-Maria Sharapova (Russia) Walkover.—Agencies