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Summary
World number one Rafa Nadal was knocked out of the Cincinnati Masters by Marcos Baghdatis on Friday, the Cypriot winning the quarter-final 6-4 4-6 6-4. Baghdatis goes through to meet Switzerland's Roger Federer in Saturday's semi-final while the other match-up is an All-American affair with Andy Roddick facing Mardy Fish. Nadal double-faulted at break point with the game at 4-4 in the third allowing the 20th ranked Baghdatis to serve out for the win. The prospect of the US's top two men battling for a spot in the final is a timely boost for the American game which is without a top ten male player going into the US Open at the end of the month. After struggling with illness recently Roddick looks in good shape after defeating fifth ranked Robin Soderling on Thursday and his 6-4 7-5 win over world number two Djokovic. Fish took advantage of an exhausted world number four Andy Murray, who struggled in 100-degree heat (38 Celsius) and lost 6-7 6-1 7-6 to the unseeded American. Fish, ranked 36th in the world, has now beaten the Briton in three successive meetings following victories in Miami and at Queen's Club, London. Fourth seed Murray won the opening set tiebreak despite producing his first double-fault at 5-5 but the tired Scot then struggled in a one-sided second set. Both players held serve throughout the decider and Fish emerged victorious against a frustrated Murray who, after losing a rally on the penultimate point, thrashed the ball out of the stadium.
