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You are in: Tennis: Australian Open: 2003 |
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![]() Nalbandian sees off Federer
![]() Nalbandian is in his second Grand Slam quarter-final
Monday's men's round-up
David Nalbandian won an epic encounter with sixth seed Roger Federer to reach the last eight of the Australian Open for the first time. The Argentine 10th seed twice took a grip on the match, only for the erratic Federer to hit back in the second and fourth sets. But Nalbandian produced a string of thunderous groundstrokes when it mattered in the decider to triumph 6-4 3-6 6-1 1-6 6-3. "I feel very tired. It was a long match and he hit his forehand very well," said Nalbandian.
"But I played really good today and I'm very happy to be in the quarters." Nalbandian will now play Rainer Schuettler, who sprang a minor surprise when he beat 23rd seed James Blake 6-3 6-4 1-6 6-3.
Schuettler made the fourth round at the 2001 Australian Open before losing to Carlos Moya and he was delighted to have gone one step further this year. "The older you get, the more you just enjoy the game and the more you appreciate what you have around you," said the 26-year-old. Andy Roddick produced a stirring comeback as he fought back from two sets down to beat Russian Davis Cup hero Mikhail Youzhny. Roddick won 6-7 3-6 7-5 6-3 6-2 to move into the quarter-finals. Frustrated It was the first time in his career that the ninth-seeded American had come back from a two-set deficit. "I was a little frustrated after the first two sets but I didn't let it get the best of me," said Roddick. "I was feeling really good in the fifth, best I have felt in the fifth set, and the work I've done paid off. "I doubt I would have done this couple of years ago. "Between the ears I might have become too frustrated and physically I don't think I would have got up for it." The victory was the first time Roddick had beaten Youzhny in three attempts. Youzhny became a Russian sporting hero last December when he clinched his country's first-ever Davis Cup by beating Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in a five-set decider in Paris. Roddick will now play Lleyton Hewitt's conqueror Younes El Aynaoui in the last eight.
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