<p>Defending champion Roger Federer became the second high-profile casualty at the Madrid Open when he was beaten 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 by Japanese 14th seed Kei Nishikori in the third round on Thursday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The Swiss second seed's surprise reverse follows Tuesday's shock defeat for world number one Novak Djokovic to unseeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. <br /><br />Federer, 31, was playing his first tournament since taking a break following his loss against Rafa Nadal at the Indian Wells Masters in March. <br /><br />It was the 23-year-old Nishikori's biggest win since he beat Serb Djokovic in the semi-finals in Basel in 2011. <br /><br />Federer’s defeat snapped the possibility of a semifinal with Rafa Nadal who earlier thumped unseeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-3 to claim a spot in the last eight.<br />The Spanish world number five fell in the third round of the clay Masters event last year but never looked under pressure against Youzhny and showed his recent seven-month injury layoff had not robbed him of any agility. <br /><br />In other third round matches, Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic beat Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7-6(5) 7-5 and Pablo Andujar of Spain got past compatriot Daniel Gimeno-Traver when the latter retired at 5-5 in the first set.<br /><br />Serena, Sharapova win<br /><br />In the women’s event, a laid-back Serena Williams breezed into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-1 drubbing of Maria Kirilenko. <br /><br />The world number one and top seed, defending champion at the premier clay event in the Spanish capital, needed just over an hour to dismiss the 13th-seeded Russian and set up a last-eight meeting with Spanish wildcard Anabel Medina Garrigues.<br /><br />Williams, chasing a fourth title of the year and the 50th of her career, was joined in the quarterfinals by second seed Maria Sharapova who knocked out unseeded German Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 7-5. <br /><br />The Russian world number two and French Open champion will play Slovakian wildcard Daniela Hantuchova or Estonian Kaia Kanepi for a place in the last four. <br /><br />Sania-Bethanie exit <br /><br />Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands made an early exit in the doubles after losing their second-round match 5-7, 1-6 to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova.</p>
<p>Defending champion Roger Federer became the second high-profile casualty at the Madrid Open when he was beaten 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 by Japanese 14th seed Kei Nishikori in the third round on Thursday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The Swiss second seed's surprise reverse follows Tuesday's shock defeat for world number one Novak Djokovic to unseeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. <br /><br />Federer, 31, was playing his first tournament since taking a break following his loss against Rafa Nadal at the Indian Wells Masters in March. <br /><br />It was the 23-year-old Nishikori's biggest win since he beat Serb Djokovic in the semi-finals in Basel in 2011. <br /><br />Federer’s defeat snapped the possibility of a semifinal with Rafa Nadal who earlier thumped unseeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-3 to claim a spot in the last eight.<br />The Spanish world number five fell in the third round of the clay Masters event last year but never looked under pressure against Youzhny and showed his recent seven-month injury layoff had not robbed him of any agility. <br /><br />In other third round matches, Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic beat Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7-6(5) 7-5 and Pablo Andujar of Spain got past compatriot Daniel Gimeno-Traver when the latter retired at 5-5 in the first set.<br /><br />Serena, Sharapova win<br /><br />In the women’s event, a laid-back Serena Williams breezed into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-1 drubbing of Maria Kirilenko. <br /><br />The world number one and top seed, defending champion at the premier clay event in the Spanish capital, needed just over an hour to dismiss the 13th-seeded Russian and set up a last-eight meeting with Spanish wildcard Anabel Medina Garrigues.<br /><br />Williams, chasing a fourth title of the year and the 50th of her career, was joined in the quarterfinals by second seed Maria Sharapova who knocked out unseeded German Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 7-5. <br /><br />The Russian world number two and French Open champion will play Slovakian wildcard Daniela Hantuchova or Estonian Kaia Kanepi for a place in the last four. <br /><br />Sania-Bethanie exit <br /><br />Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands made an early exit in the doubles after losing their second-round match 5-7, 1-6 to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova.</p>