Madrid Open: Nadal, Serena reach quarters, Fededer out

Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova reached the quarterfinals of Madrid Open on Thursday.

Nadal defeated Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-3 last night and advanced into Quarters.  Top seed Serena Williams and world no. 2 Maria Sharapova also reached the ladies single quarterfinals.

He will play David Ferrerr in the quarter final. Ferrerr beat Tommy Haas 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in the 3rd Round.

Third seed Andy Murray also reaches the quarters after beating Gilles Simon after losing the first set.

Serena Williams easily defeated Russia’s Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-1 and Maria Sharapova over past  of Germany’s Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 7-5.

“I just felt really relaxed, like I was taking my time. I had been missing my serve when I was hitting it harder, so I took some pace off and didn’t hit as hard as I usually do. It was easy because when you take off pace you don’t hit as hard and don’t exhaust as much energy. And hitting a serve or a winner are both fun,” Williams said after the match. She will now play Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain.

Second-seeded Roger Federer was knocked out in the third round by Japan’s Kei Nishikori  6-4, 1-6, 6-2 later on Thursday.

“He was my idol and to beat him was one of the goals for my tennis career,” the 16th-ranked Nishikori said. “Beating Roger is, yeah … I need a couple of days to celebrate,” ecstatic Nishikori said after beating Federer.

“Clearly the favorite for this tournament is Nadal,” Federer said.

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