Reigning champion Andy Roddick was dumped out of the Cincinnati Masters in straight sets by David Ferrer.
Reigning champion Andy Roddick fell by the wayside in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters as he was beaten in straight sets by Spaniard David Ferrer, while top seed Roger Federer was far from his best as he overcame the challenge of Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 7-5.
Roddick paid the price as he spurned three set points in the opening set of his match with Ferrer recovering to go on and clinch a 7-6 6-4 triumph.
Roared on a by a partisan home crowd, Roddick appeared in control during the early stages but could not quite pull away from his opponent who stayed in the match with some typically tenacious retrieving from the back of the court.
The American looked poised to secured his advantage at just the right time as he created three set points on the Ferrer serve.
However, the Spaniard refused to lie down and, having seen off that danger, forced the first set into a tie-break from which he emerged victorious 7-4.
He then took that momentum into the second set and secured one decisive break to condemn Roddick to a damaging defeat with the US Open little more than ten days away.
Sixteenth seed Ferrer will now face fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko who wasted little energy in dispatching Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-2.
Federer forced to battle
Federer found the going tough in the searing of Cincinnati and produced by no means a vintage display as he edged past Baghdatis.
The Cypriot passed up four set points at 6-5 in the opening set, two with double faults, but could not push home his advantage and was left to rue his profligacy as Federer hit back to win the tie-break 7-5.
After falling an early reak behind in the second, Baghdatis showed great character to level at 5-5 but once again lost focus at a crucial period as Federer immediately broke back and served out to seal victory.
The Swiss conceded he was someway away from his immaculate best, stating afterwards: "It was a struggle out there. It was tough to keep the ball in play and they were really quick conditions. I am just really happy I got through."
Resurgent Hewitt
A revitalised Lleyton Hewitt secured his third quarter final appearance at an elite level this season as he saw off Austrian Jurgen Meltzer to set up an intriguing clash with Carlos Moya in the last eight.
Despite suffering an early break in the first set, Hewitt was always in charge of his contest and made light of the sweltering conditions to record a 6-3 6-3 triumph.
"I played pretty good. After going down an early break I played pretty solid," stated the Australian.
"I served well. I put pressure on his serve and made him go for a few bail-out shots when he didn't want to rally, which was good with the circumstances in the weather conditions out there today."
Moya was made to work much harder for his quarter final berth as he eventually came out on top in three sets after a fascinating match against Argentine youngster Juan Martin Del Potro.
After Moya took the first set 7-5, Del Potro forced a decider as he bounced back to clinch the second 6-3.
In the third the South American battled to save four set points before the encounter was finally settled by Hawk-Eye as a challenge from Moya proved successful allowing the Spaniard to wrap up a 7-5 3-6 7-5 win.
Elsewhere, Spaniard Nicolas Almagro had too much for Jarkko Nieminen as he cruised to a 6-2 6-2 victory, while American wildcard Sam Querrey put out Argentine Juan Monaco - who progressed after Rafael Nadal retired from their second round clash - with a 6-3 7-5 success.
