=== Nadal stunned; Djokovic, Federer reach Madrid QFs ===
 
 Madrid,  Spain  (Sports Network)  -  Fernando  Verdasco stunned  Rafael  Nadal
 in  an all-Spanish  third-round affair, while reigning champion Novak Djokovic
 and  former  champ Roger Federer were  a pair of straight-set victors Thursday
 at the $4 million Madrid Open, an ATP World Tour 1000 Masters event.
 
 The  15th-seeded  Verdasco trailed the  second-seeded former world No. 1 Nadal
 2-5  in the third  set before charging back for a shocking 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 upset
 on  the unusual blue  clay at Madrid's Magic Box. Nadal was riding an 11-match
 winning streak and fresh off back-to-back clay-court titles in Monte Carlo and
 Barcelona.
 
 Verdasco,  who lost  to Nadal in a  semifinal in Barcelona just two weeks ago,
 topped  Nadal in 3 hours, 10 minutes despite piling up nine double faults. The
 match featured 13 breaks of serve, including seven by the surprise winner.
 
 The 28-year-old Verdasco had been 0-13 lifetime against his fellow lefthander.
 
 The two-time Madrid champion Nadal was last year's runner-up here to Djokovic.
 The super Spaniard was also a Madrid runner-up back in 2009.
 
 Nadal  holds  the  record  with  20  Masters  titles,  including  the  one  in
 Monte Carlo  last month.
 
 The  25-year-old  star has lost  only two  matches against fellow Spaniards on
 clay during his brilliant career.
 
 The world No. 1 and reigning Australian Open, U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion
 Djokovic  handled  Swiss Stan Wawrinka  7-6 (7-5), 6-4  in 1 hour, 45 minutes,
 while  the  third-seeded Federer blitzed 14th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet
 6-3,  6-2 in a mere 58 minutes. The sublime Swiss icon swatted 10 aces and was
 not broken on Day 5.
 
 Djokovic's  quarterfinal opponent will be his seventh-seeded fellow Serb Janko
 Tipsarevic, who snuck past ninth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 7-6 (7-3), 5-7,
 6-1.
 
 The  two-time  Madrid champion  and two-time runner-up  Federer is playing his
 first  clay-court tennis of the year this week. The 30-year-old all-time great
 would overtake Nadal for the world No. 2 ranking with a title this weekend.
 
 Federer's quarterfinal opponent will be dangerous fifth seed David Ferrer, who
 went  the  distance to outlast  11th-seeded fellow Spanish clay-court stalwart
 Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-6 (10-8). Ferrer needed 2 hours, 53 minutes
 to  stave off  Almagro, as  both players  smacked 13  aces in  an entertaining
 outing.
 
 Ferrer was the recent Barcelona runner-up to Nadal.
 
 Federer  is  12-0 lifetime against  Ferrer, including  a semifinal win here in
 Madrid two years ago.
 
 Another  Thursday upset  came when  16th-seeded Ukrainian  Alexandr Dolgopolov
 outlasted fourth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2).
 
 Meanwhile,  sixth-seeded  Czech slugger  Tomas Berdych embarrassed oft-injured
 12th-seeded  Frenchman  Gael Monfils  in 50  minutes, 6-1,  6-1, and hot 10th-
 seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro handled Croat Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-4. Del
 Potro  is  fresh off his  clay-court title in Estoril  last week and will meet
 Dolgopolov on Friday. Berdych will battle Verdasco in the round of eight.
 
 The 2012 Madrid titlist will earn $770,000.
 
 
 05/10 17:59:06 ET

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