Basel, Oct 25: Roger Federer's hopes of winning his hometown tournament ended when Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia upset the Wimbledon champion 7-6 (5) 6-7 (5) 6-4 in the Swiss Indoors second round.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Andy Roddick beat Belgian qualifier Gilles Elseneer 6-3 7-6 (5) to reach the quarterfinals.
Roddick, who can regain the no. 1 spot in the ATP champions race by reaching the final, breezed through the first set against Elseneer but had to rally from 3-0 down in the second under the onslaught of the Belgian's blistering serve and crafty returns.
"I'm still not where I want to be and I'll have to tighten some things up," Roddick said.
He regained composure after a 15-minute power failure – a break he described as "annoying". He said it reminded him of the times his older brother used to turn out the lights to scare him as a child.



The US Open champion said the long season was taking its toll.



"I'm not going to play all the time like I did this summer," he said. "I'm not playing horribly but I think I can improve."



He'll next face another Belgian, Olivier Rochus, who upset eighth-seeded Tommy Robredo 7-5 6-1.



Second-seeded Federer struggled to return Ljubicic's serves, which regularly topped 210 kph, punctuated by a series of unforced errors. To thunderous applause, Federer saved a match point to salvage the second set, but then he visibly flagged in the final set in a match lasting more than 2 hours, 20 minutes.



"Not very good", was Federer's terse reply when asked about his performance. He blamed an injury, but refused to disclose its nature.



"I didn't feel well from the outset. But before the game I hadn't realised it would be so bad."



He said he would now focus on recovering for next week's Paris Masters.



Third-seeded Guillermo Coria and fourth-seeded Argentine compatriot David Nalbandian also advanced, but fifth-seeded Jiri Novak fell to Spain's Feliciano Lopez 3-6 7-5 6-4.


Bureau Report