Nadal, Federer upset at Cincinnati tennis

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer found their US Open preparations hitting a snag on Friday when they were ousted in the quarter-finals of the ATPs Cincinnati Masters.American seventh seed Mardy Fish defeated world number two and second seed Nadal 6-3, 6-4.Eighth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych then dispatched world number three and third seed Federer 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).Berdych claimed a third victory over Federer in their last three meetings, taking full advantage of the Swiss stars struggles with his ground strokes.Berdych will next face the winner of the remaining quarter-final between world number one Novak Djokovic and sixth-seeded Gael Monfils of France.Fish, who zinged a cross court forehand past Nadal on match point to seal his first victory over the Spaniard in seven attempts, next faces world number four Andy Murray, who cruised past Frances Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-3.Nadal had battled through three tiebreakers over three and a half hours to beat Fernando Verdasco a day earlier.He was also still playing with two burned fingertips of his right hand heavily taped. But Nadal wasnt making any excuses.It was a little bit unlucky week for me with the burned fingers and with the very long match yesterday, Nadal said. I dont have a lot of feeling when I threw the ball with the right hand, and to play with the backhand, too.I lost because Mardy played much better than me.Fish made the most of his opportunity, saving all four break points he faced as he avenged a quarter-final loss to Nadal at Wimbledon.Fish, who has risen to seventh in the world, said a successful summer season that has included a title in Atlanta and finals appearances at Los Angeles and Montreal had him feeling more confident against Nadal this time.Nadal got off to a sluggish start, his winners scarce amid an uncharacteristic display of unforced errors that eventually totalled 20.He was more animated in the second set, but could still find no real answer for Fishs dominance at the net, where the American won 16 of 19 points. Fish, who has yet to be broken in the tournament, finished with 32 winners and a dozen aces.