18 March 2010 / AP, INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.
Top-ranked Roger Federer wasted three match points and then lost to Greek Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (4) on Tuesday night in a third-round upset result at the BNP Paribas Open.
A joyous Baghdatis bent down and kissed the court after his first win over Federer in seven matches. Federer hadn’t lost when having a match point since 2006 in Rome. It was the Swiss star’s second loss in 13 matches this year, and in his first tournament since winning his 16th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the women’s quarterfinals with a win Tuesday. Among the men advancing to the fourth round were No. 4 Andy Murray and No. 7 Andy Roddick, No. 8 Robin Soderling and No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In fourth-round women’s play, No. 4 Elena Dementieva of Russia beat No. 19 Aravane Rezai of France 6-3 6-3, sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic routed No. 17 Shahar Peer of Israel 6-2, 6-2, and No. 8 Samantha Stosur Australia ousted defending champion Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-2, 7-5. Wozniacki advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 victory over 16th-seeded Nadia Petrova, whose career record against top-five players dropped to 11-42 with the loss.
