Fed express derailed

World number one Roger Federer was sent crashing out of the Rome Masters today after suffering a shock straight-sets defeat to unseeded Filippo Volandri.

The 25-year-old Italian delighted his home crowd after ousting the top-seeded Swiss 6-2 6-4 in the third round.

The result marks the second surprise result in the space of a few hours at the prestigious event after third seed Andy Roddick crashed out 6-0 6-4 to Juan Ignacio Chela earlier in the day.

Federer, who finished as runner-up at this event in 2003 and 2006, was downbeat after failing to get to grips with Volandri in front of a partisan crowd.

Federer said: “Today I couldn’t get it together. The crowd and the opponent was tough. The crowd had a lot to cheer because the game was so one-sided.”