Fri May 9 12:38:22 2008

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Federer falls in Rome quarters

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Rome, Italy (Sports Network) - World No. 1 superstar Roger Federer suffered a quarterfinal setback Friday at the hands of gritty Czech Radek Stepanek at the $3.5 million Italian Masters, a clay-court French Open tune- up.

The unseeded Stepanek stunned the top-seeded Federer in straight sets in a pair of tiebreaks, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7), at Foro Italico. Federer was the runner-up at this event in 2003 and 2006.

Stepanek pulled off the upset in 1 hour, 55 minutes with the help of eight aces and a pair of service breaks.

The 29-year-old Stepanek is now 2-4 lifetime against Federer, who had won their previous four meetings, including a third-round one here in 2006.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion Federer dropped to 22-6 this year and has won only one title in seven tournaments in 2008.

A milder Day-5 upset came when Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka upended eighth-seeded American James Blake 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.

This week's winner will take home $558,000.