Roddick and Robredo toppled in Madrid

MADRID, Oct 19 (Reuters) Sixth seed Andy Roddick and world number eight Tommy Robredo suffered straight sets defeats in the third round of the Madrid Masters today.

Czech Tomas Berdych toppled Roddick 7-6 6-3 with the American ending the match complaining of pain in his left ankle, while the unseeded Robby Ginepri beat Spain's Robredo 6-3 7-6.

There was nothing to separate Berdych and Roddick in the first set as they held firm on their serves and it was no surprise when the set went to a tiebreak. But Roddick was the first to crack and the 21-year-old Czech edged the tiebreak 9-7.

The American received treatment on his left ankle at 3-2 down in the second set and Berdych produced a sensational running pass to break serve in the next game before easing his way to victory in the first meeting between the pair.

Berdych will now play the winner of the match between defending champion Rafael Nadal and 13th-seeded German Tommy Haas in the quarter-finals.

American Ginepri, who lost to Nadal in the semis last year, put Robredo under early pressure, breaking in the second game and then holding his serve with ease to take the first set 6-3.

He kept Robredo on the back foot in the second to take a 5-4 lead, but the seventh seed refused to fold and broke back to love when Ginepri was serving for the match.

The set went to a tiebreak and it was Ginepri who won through 7-3 to earn himself a quarter-final showdown against the winner of the third round match between world number one Roger Federer and Sweden's Robin Soderling.

Spain has had a bad week in Madrid, but local fans still have strong hopes that their only remaining representative Nadal will bring them a home triumph.

British number one Andy Murray will be looking to build on his impressive victory over third seed Ivan Ljubicic when he meets Novak Djokovic of Serbia, while fellow countryman Tim Henman meets fourth seeded Argentine David Nalbandian.

REUTERS PM RK1815