Nadal's winning run stopped

2008-05-07 20:13

Barnaby Chesterman

Rome - French Open champion Rafael Nadal lost for the first time ever here as he was beaten 7-5 6-1 in the second round of the Rome Masters by Juan Carlos Ferrero on Wednesday.

It was also the world number two's first defeat on clay since losing the Hamburg final to Roger Federer, just under a year ago.

The Spanish clay king, bidding for his fourth straight title in Rome, was clearly hampered by blisters on his right foot in the second set and former world number one Ferrero showed a ruthless streak in dismissing the second seed.

It was Ferrero's first win on clay against Nadal and only his second victory in eight meetings, avenging a defeat by an almost identical score at Monte Carlo last month.

Serbia's Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic cruised into the third round following a 6-4 6-0 victory over Belgian Steve Darcis.

The world number 49 put up a fight in the first set but Djokovic simply blew him away in the second.

The world number three has had a sensational start to the season, winning the first Grand Slam of the year and then also claiming the Indian Wells Masters title.

He currently leads the ATP champions race and is closing in on the world's top two - Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal - above him in the rankings.

'Changed my life'

After this romp in the sun, Djokovic admitted that his aim is to finish the year at the top of the pile.

"Winning the Australian Open changed my life and I want to be number one this year," he said.

The Serb is not known for his clay court expertise but he did win the Estoril Open on the surface last year.

He said the courts here in the Italian capital were also faster than normal clay surfaces, which was more to his liking, but he said he was still trying to adapt his game.

"It's not true that I'm not changing anything at all. I'm getting used to this surface and adapting to the system of the game and trying to play more patiently," he said.

"The ball bounces a lot higher than on other (clay) surfaces. The courts are really fast and the fact that they are slippery makes them even faster.

"So they're suitable to my type of game."

Djokovic has also not been beaten in the Grand Slams by anyone other than Federer or Nadal since 2006 and on this form could pose a threat to those two at the French Open later this month.

Eight seed James Blake of the United States overcame a slow start to finally click into gear and dismiss home hope Andrea Seppi 7-6 3-6 6-1.

"I got through the first set and pulled it out and then he stepped it up a little," said Blake.

"I still couldn't quite find my range in the second and then to play as well as I did in the third and to really take advantage of my chances is a really good feeling."

Nalbandian crashed out

It was plain sailing for fourth seed Russian Nikolay Davydenko as he thrashed Croatian wildcard Mario Ancic 6-2, 6-2.

Olympic doubles champion Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, the 12th seed, was equally ruthless as he dismissed Russian Evgeny Korolev 6-3 6-2.

But it was a bad day for a couple of other seeds as both David Ferrer and David Nalbandian crashed out.

Spaniard Ferrer, who reached the final in Barcelona last week before losing 6-1 4-6 6-1 had a good start against Czech Radek Stepanek but then saw his game collapse as he went down 4-6 6-2 6-1.

The fifth seed seemed to run out of steam, with last week's exploits catching up with him.

Argentina's former Wimbledon finalist Nalbandian came unstuck against clay specialist Nicolas Almagro of Spain.

He made 35 unforced errors and gave up his serve four times as he lost 6-4 7-5.

- SAPA