INDIAN WELLS, California: Roger Federer paid tribute to Mardy Fish's performance after being swept aside 6-3, 6-2 by the unseeded American in the Pacific Life Open semifinals on Saturday.
The Swiss world No 1, who had not dropped a set in his three previous matches at Indian Well Tennis Garden, was outplayed by a player ranked 98th in a match lasting just over an hour.
"He played great today," Federer, 26, told reporters after losing to Fish for the first time in six meetings. "I can only congratulate him. Fantastic.
"The danger of best-of-three matches is it can be over in no time. We all know that. He was just trying to go for everything and it sort of worked.
"He didn't even play particularly bad on the break points, every time he read the right side on the serve and he kept the ball in play. When he wanted to attack, everything worked. He would never miss when I needed maybe a miss once in a while.
"So that was just impressive by his side and I couldn't do much to control it."
Federer, a winner of 12 Grand Slam titles and three Pacific Life Opens, was broken once in the opening set and twice in the second to lose his third match out of eight this year.
However, he felt his defeat was not as big a surprise as reflected by Fish's world ranking.
"It's not like he's been 98 for the first time in his life and he just made a career breakthrough breaking into the top 100," he said.
"The guy has been top 20 before and he's had big matches before. He should have won Cincinnati a few years back beating Andy (Roddick) before he became No 1. We know how good Mardy can be. Let's not talk about 98. We know he's way better than that."
Overall, Federer was satisfied with his run to the semi-finals at Indian Wells, the first Masters Series event of the season, after suffering from a viral problem in his first two tournaments of the year.
The Swiss lost to eventual winner Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals in January before being beaten in the first round in Dubai by Briton Andy Murray.
"I'm happy with this week," Federer said. "Today it's hard to judge because Mardy took everything on the rise. There weren't many rallies out there so it's hard to judge.
"But all in all, I'm happy the way this week has been gone for me. Obviously the walkover is sort of an awkward situation, but you have to take them when they come around."
Federer gained a bye into the last four when Germany's Tommy Haas withdrew from their quarterfinal on Friday because of a sinus infection.
"So semifinals to start off with at the first Masters Series is a good thing and I hope I can go from here and win in Miami and on to clay," he added.
Fatigue hits Nadal
Three-set victories in his two previous matches finally caught up with Rafael Nadal on Saturday when his title defense came to an abrupt halt.
The second-seeded Spaniard was broken twice in each set on his way to a 6-3, 6-2 crushing by Serb Novak Djokovic, the third seed.
"I have very tough matches in the rounds before, very tight matches," Nadal told reporters after being swept off the court in one hour 28 minutes.
"You have to be 100 percent and he (Djokovic) play this week, for sure, less hours than me on court, easier matches. Today he play better than me so I cannot do a thing. That's it."
Djokovic, who lost to the long-haired Spaniard in last year's final, has not dropped a set in five matches this week.
Nadal scraped past 17th-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 in the fourth round before beating ninth-seeded American James Blake 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the last eight.
"Today, unfortunately, I didn't play my best," the Spanish left-hander said. "I had more mistakes than usually. Well, I feel a little bit tired from last two matches.
"If you play against a player like Novak, you have to be at 100 percent if you want to have chances to win. The truth is he played better than me today. It's difficult to say more things."
Overall, though, clay-court specialist and world No 2 Nadal was pleased with his title defence.
"For me it's a very positive tournament, no?" he said. "I play in the semifinal in the first Masters Series event of the season on a hard court, beating two big players in Blake and Tsonga.
"I have to think in a positive way and try to go to Miami with my best chances," he added, referring to the Sony Ericsson Open starting next week.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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