Tennis: Federer is out of the Madrid Open, Murray beats Simon

Andy Murray defeated Gilles Simon to move into the quarter finals of the Madrid Open while defending champion Roger Federer suffered a surprising defeat at the hands of Kei Nishikori. Murray had to battle it out through three sets to overcome his French opponent, winning 2-6 6-4 7-6 (8-6) but 17-time Grand Slam champion Federer was beaten 6-4 1-6 6-2 by 14th seed Kei Nishikori of Japan. "It's the biggest win for me, especially on clay," said Nishikori. Rafael Nadal won his third-round match easily, beating Mikhail Youzhny 6-2 6-3. Nadal, aged 26, is seeking to win the tournament for a third time and the road to the title seems easier now as two of his main rivals stumbled out of the tournament in the space of 48 hours. Murray looked sluggish in the opening set against Simon, which he lost, but then the Scot took control in the second set with a string of fabulous forehand strikes. Murray looked even more impressive in the final set but Simon fought with everything he had, saving three match points to force a tie-break. The Frenchman saved yet another three match points before volleying into the net to hand Murray the victory. Murray will now face Czech world number six Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals. Second seed Federer's defeat follows Tuesday's shock exit for world number one Novak Djokovic at the hands of Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. Nishikori now plays Spaniard Pablo Andujar in the quarter-finals. Federer, who was returning from a two-month break, said: "I'm disappointed with my match. Today Nishikori played better and the best man won." The three-time Madrid champion was broken in the fifth game of the opening set and Nishikori served out the set without facing a break point. Federer played a bit better in the second set but an unforced error gifted his opponent a break and Nishikori served out the set once again. With two of the main favourites out, the odds at Bet365 for an outright win here are looking quite interesting: Rafael Nadal - 2/7 Andy Murray - 13/2 Tomas Berdych - 10/1 David Ferrer - 14/1 Stanislas Wawrinka - 14/1