Nadal knocked out of Qatar Open

Rafael Nadal’s hopes of lifting the Qatar Open title are over after the world number one was surprisingly beaten 6-4 6-4 by France’s Gael Monfils in the quarter-finals in Doha.

Top seed Nadal had defeated Monfils easily in their three previous meetings but the exciting 22-year-old, who has risen to 13th in the world on the back of an impressive 2008, turned the tables with an excellent performance.

Monfils is one of the few players who can compete with Nadal’s athleticism but it was his serve that proved the difference today, the fifth seed winning 83% of points on his first delivery.

Nadal converted the only break point he had but that was not enough as Monfils racked up three breaks, including in the final game, for a notable victory.

Monfils, a finalist in Doha in 2006, will face fourth seed Andy Roddick in the last four after the American breezed past Victor Hanescu 6-3 6-2.

Roddick was particularly dominant on serve against the Romanian and will need to match that tomorrow if he is to deny Monfils a place in the final.

Second seed Roger Federer progressed through to the last four but he was given a stern test by Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The Swiss, champion in Doha in 2005 and 2006, maintained his record of not dropping a set in this year’s tournament, saving three set points in the second set to record a 6-2 7-6 (8/6) win.

Federer began like a man in a hurry, racing into a 3-0 lead, but eighth seed Kohlschreiber broke straight back.

Parity was short-lived, however, as a focused-looking Federer rattled off three straight games to take the first set.

That quickly became six games in a row as the 13-time grand slam champion seemingly took a firm grip on the match.

To his credit, Kohlschreiber never gave up hope and he was rewarded for taking the match to his opponent with a break of his own to get back on serve.

The German then withstood more pressure on his serve to level at 4-4.

Kohlschreiber was by now playing with aggression and no little skill, and he saved his best for the tie-break, where he surged into a 5-1 lead before racking up three set points.

It was still not enough to force a deciding set, however, as Federer dug deep to level at 6-6 before sealing victory with a searing forehand down the line.