MONTE CARLO — Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal slumped to a shock Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinal defeat to compatriot and close friend David Ferrer Friday while Roger Federer scraped into the last-four. Ferrer claimed a famous 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 win to hand the top seed only his third loss in the principality just a day after Nadal had won his 300th career claycourt match and 50th at the Monte Carlo Country Club. Meanwhile, Federer, bidding to win the title for the first time, squandered his first 15 break points before finally coming good on a 16th on his way to a 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 defeat of French ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Federer will face off in a Saturday semifinal against Novak Djokovic, who defeated Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to advance. The Swiss fourth seed won his 950th career match in a topsy-turvy clash, winning the second set on a fourth set point before running away with the third. He will be playing in his 50th Masters semifinal against either defending champion Novak Djokovic or Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, the title winner on clay in Casablanca last weekend. Ferrer came to the court Friday with a 5-21 deficit against Nadal who last failed to make the final in Monte Carlo in his debut year of 2003. “When the opponent is doing things better than you, the normal thing is to lose. That's what happened today,” said Nadal, who committed 44 unforced errors. Ferrer will now face off Saturday against Australian Open winner Stanislas Wawrinka who clinched a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 over Canadian Milos Raonic. Nadal was well off the boil from the start in a contest where the opening set took 75 minutes and the third game required a quarter of an hour. Ferrer battled his nerves as he served for victory leading 5-2, but was broken. On his second chance, the 32-year-old got the job done after two hours, 11 minutes. The win was the first on clay for Ferrer against Nadal in a decade. “The last time I beat Rafael on clay was 10 years ago. But I'm happy because I am in the semifinal and because I am playing very good this week,” said Ferrer, who was runner-up to Nadal at the French Open last year. Cibulkova in semis Top-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia rallied to beat Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 Friday and reach the semifinals of the Malaysian Open. The 10th-ranked Cibulkova saved 20 break points to prevail over her sixth-seeded opponent after more than 2 ½ hours. Cibulkova will play third-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, who defeated Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey, 6-4, 6-4. In the other semifinal, second-seeded Shuai Zhang of China will take on Donna Vekic of Croatia. The 45th-ranked Zhang fought off 10 break points to beat Magda Linette of Poland 6-2, 2-6, 6-1. Vekic hit 10 aces to overcome fourth-seeded Patricia Mayr-Achleitner of Austria 6-4, 7-5. Safarova, Errani to open Fed Cup semifinals Lucie Safarova and Sara Errani will open the Fed Cup semifinal tie between the Czech Republic and holder Italy in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava starting Saturday, following Friday's draw. Safarova, the world No. 26 and the Czech No. 2, will face 11th-ranked Italian No. 1 Errani on the hardcourt of Ostrava's CEZ Arena. Sixth-ranked Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic will then take on 54th-ranked Camila Giorgi. On Sunday, Kvitova will play against Errani and Safarova will then take on Giorgi. Klara Koukalova and Andrea Hlavackova are due to face Roberta Vinci and Karin Knapp in the doubles rubber, but the line-ups for Sunday may change. In the other semifinal, Australia takes on Germany in Brisbane. — Agencies
