Federer ousted by Stepanek in Rome

Roger Federer's preparations for the French Open suffered a further blow when he was beaten in straight sets in the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters by unseeded Czech Radek Stepanek.

Stepanek, who did a caterpillar dance on the clay in celebration, will face Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic after Spain's Nicolas Almagro withdrew from their quarter-final with a wrist problem with the score at 6-1 1-0 to the Serb.

World No.1 Federer, struggling for consistency on clay ahead of the year's second grand slam later this month, was the second big gun of the day to fall to an unseeded player after his Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka won an entertaining tussle with American James Blake 6-7 7-6 6-1.

Wawrinka will meet Andy Roddick in the semis after the American sixth seed pulled out some massive serves in a final-set tiebreaker on the way to beating Spain's Tommy Robredo 6-3 4-6 7-6.

Federer was out of sorts throughout the match with his backhand particularly misfiring badly.

"You've seen me many times, it happens all the time," he moaned afterwards. "It's something I've been trying to get rid of for 10 years but still not today."

Although he lamented his backhand, he said there was more than just that wrong with his game.

"I don't know if it was just the backhand. I think I missed plenty of opportunities throughout the match," he said.

"He's difficult to play. He gives you little rhythm and he always changes his game up a lot."

Stepanek, who was watched by his girlfriend, teenage Czech player Nicole Vaidisova, said his attacking play had been key.

"That was very important because once you let Roger play his game he can work the ball very well, move you around the court and put pressure on you," said the world No.27.

"I wanted to put pressure on him and it paid off. You try every tournament to get to Sunday but there are a lot of competitors on tour."

Third seed Djokovic met little resistance as Almagro was hampered by a wrist problem from the early stages of their match. The Spaniard decided to stop after losing his serve in the opening game of the second set.

Wawrinka, who had beaten former world No.1s Juan Carlos Ferrero, Marat Safin and Andy Murray to reach the last eight, made a confident start, breaking Blake in the third game.

But the American eighth seed held his nerve, broke back in the eighth game and took the first set in a tiebreak 7-5.

Blake showed more resilience in the second set, saving four set points when 5-3 down and two more in the tiebreak before Wawrinka levelled the score with a sweet backhand winner down the line.

The Swiss, who had treatment on back and leg problems at the end of the second set, used the momentum from the tiebreak to romp home in the decider.