Champion Nadal Falls to Youzhny

Dubai, UAE, March 1st, 2007: Defending champion Rafael Nadal slumped to a dramatic 7-6(5) 6-3 defeat against in-form Russian Mikhail Youzhny at the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open on Thursday. But top seed Roger Federer remained on course to claim back the title he conceded last year to the second seeded Spaniard.

Youzhny came to Dubai after winning the Rotterdam title on Sunday, and his confidence was boosted by the memory of a victory over Nadal when they last met, at the 2006 US Open.

The first set ended in controversy, when with the score at 6-5 to Youzhny in the tiebreak, Nadal thought a ball from the Russian had landed wide. Youzhny challenged the call with Hawkeye, the revolutionary new line-calling system, and it showed the ball had skimmed the line.

Both Nadal and the umpire believed the ball was out, but officials have to accept Hawkeye’s ruling.

“The mark of the ball was still on court and it was outside but in the challenge it was in, so that’s unbelievable,” said Nadal. “I say to him (the umpire), ‘look, the ball is out’, and he say ‘I know’.”

Youzhny also agreed the ball appeared to be out.

“It looked like it was out,” he said. “I saw the mark, but I just took the challenge because it was a very important point. When it showed it was good I was a little bit shocked. But anyway, you can have the same mistakes from linesmen or the chair umpire.”

Youzhny then broke to lead 4-2 in the second set, and in a dramatic finale he eventually ended the battle on his seventh match point.

Federer recovered from a difficult start against seventh seeded Serb Novak Djokovic, prevailing 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3 to extend his winning streak to 39 matches, fifth best in the Open Era.

Federer too was disturbed by a challenge to Hawkeye on match point, when it showed a ball that had been called in had landed wide. Djokovic went on to take the tiebreak with the aid of a net cord, but Federer broke to lead 5-3 in the third set and served out for a difficult victory over one of the rising stars of the game.

“The ball was out, but it’s hard to accept, match point,” Federer said. “It was a bit of a pity it went three and it had a bitter taste at the end with the netcord and Hawkeye.

“Maybe I should have closed it out earlier and not got to that position. I should have closed it out at 6-4 (in the tiebreak). I can only blame myself.”

Fifth seeded Haas extended his winning streak to 10 matches as he overwhelmed Belgium’s Olivier Rochus 6-0 6-2, while Soderling held off French former champion Fabrice Santoro to win 6-1 6-7(2) 6-0.

Rochus had upset third seed Nikolay Davydenko in the second round, but he failed to make any impression at all on his powerful German opponent. Haas surrendered only two points on his serve in the first set, won the first nine games, and wrapped up his victory in 49 minutes.

“It was one of those days today where from the beginning I felt the ball quite well and I moved well from the baseline,” said Haas. “I never really gave him the opportunity to play his game.”

Soderling swept the opening five games against Santoro and led 3-1 in the second set, but then fell victim to the Frenchman’s magic.

Mixing up his game with some exquisite shot-making, Santoro levelled the match by easing through the tiebreak to take the second set, only to see Soderling re-assert himself in the third.

The Swede broke for 2-0 and then held off four break points in the next game before strolling to victory.

The Dubai Tennis Championships is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free and takes place under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

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