Nadal ends Dancevic's run at Rogers Cup

Frank Dancevic didn't get the result he wanted Friday night at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, but the Canadian tennis player added another chapter to a storybook summer.

Dancevic took an early lead and held his own in a 2½ hour match against world No. 2 Rafael Nadal, who prevailed 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Rafael Nadal rips a backhand during his Friday evening win over Canadian Frank Dancevic.
(Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

Defending champion Roger Federer takes on Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in a semifinal on Saturday afternoon, with Nadal taking on Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the evening semifinal. (CBC, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET).

Dancevic, of Niagara Falls, Ont., was the first Canadian since 1989 to advance to the quarter-finals. Grant Connell of Vancouver and Andrew Sznajder of Toronto both reached the quarters that year.

In late July, Dancevic, 22, upset Andy Roddick en route to reaching the final at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships.

His ranking rose to No. 92 in the world and will likely get another bump after this week's result, which earned him $49,000.

"I didn't expect to get this far," Dancevic said. "I didn't know what to expect.

"But I had confidence from Indianapolis and I was hitting the ball well. Nadal came out strong in the second set and broke my serve and got on a roll."

Dancevic and Nadal, in their first meeting, remained on serve until the final game of the first set. Dancevic smacked a winner for the break and the first set, jumping in the air and pumping his fist to the enthusiastic crowd.

Dancevic also had a chance to break on Nadal's first service game of the second set but the Spaniard proved resilient.

Nadal, the French Open winner and Wimbledon runner-up for a second straight year, promptly broke Dancevic en route to a comfortable margin in the second set.

After a marathon game to end the set, Dancevic needed help on his lower back muscles from the courtside trainer.

Nadal broke serve to take the match, but came away impressed with the Canadian.

"He made some shots that don't exist," Nadal said.

Djokovic advances

Djokovic scored a straight sets win over Roddick Friday afternoon to advance.

Djokovic, the No. 3 seed, topped the fifth-seeded American 7-6 (4), 6-4. Djokovic held a 13-5 advantage in aces to help lead him to victory over Roddick, who won the event in 2003.

Stepanek continued his marvelous run at the tournament on Friday with another upset victory.

Stepanek, a former world No. 8 now ranked No. 60, defeated No. 4 seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-4, 7-5 to book a spot in the semifinals.

Stepanek, 28, wore his heart on his sleeve, pumping his fist and yelling at the top of his lungs after winning crucial rallies against Davydenko. He was in charge for most of the quarter-final contest, winning three of seven break points and conceding just one break opportunity to Davydenko.

Radek Stepanek celebrates his win on Friday.
(Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

With Stepanek leading 5-4 in the second set, Davydenko won a break point to tie the affair, but the Czech star answered right back by breaking the Russian before serving out to win the match.

Friday's result comes on the heels of Stepanek's upset victories over No. 6 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and No. 12 Tommy Haas of Germany earlier in the week.

After sitting out six months last year because of a neck injury that he felt might end his career, Stepanek, a 12-year veteran of the ATP Tour, has rediscovered his top form. He upset American James Blake to win the Los Angeles Classic last month and is now one victory away from reaching the Rogers Cup final.

"After Wimbledon, I took some time off," said Stepanek. "I was home for 10 days working hard, and then decided to play at Gastaad to get some matches in.

"It worked well. I started winning matches. I got into the semis at Gastaad, won the tournament in L.A. and played a great tournament again [last week] in Washington. Here, I'm still in the tournament, so I think the decision after Wimbledon was a good one."

Federer defeated Australia's Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-4 on Friday afternoon. Federer won 88 per cent of the points on his first serve and broke Hewitt three times.

Winning streak

The Swiss star and world No. 1 has a 15-match winning streak in Canada, winning the 2004 and 2006 Rogers Cups in Toronto. He missed the 2005 tournament in Montreal with a foot injury.

Federer has won two of three previous matches with Stepanek, most recently at the 2006 Italian Open.

Davydenko was competing in Montreal after suffering a recent upset loss at an event in Poland that is under investigation.

Last week, online bookmakers Betfair voided wagers on Davydenko's match against Martin Vassallo Arguello at the Poland Open. The fourth-ranked Davydenko won the first set 6-2, but lost the second 6-3 and was trailing 2-1 in the third when he withdrew with a foot injury.

Betfair reported a high number of bets were placed on the match and informed the ATP, the governing body of men's tennis. Davydenko has denied any wrongdoing.

The Rogers Cup final takes place on Sunday afternoon (CBC, 2 p.m. ET).