Losses Mount For Federer; S. Williams's Run Is Ended

Roger Federer lost again, falling to 27th-ranked Radek Stepanek, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7), yesterday in the Rome Masters quarterfinals.

Eighth-seeded American James Blake also lost, falling 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 to Stanislas Wawrinka. After reaching his second semifinal in two weeks, Wawrinka next will face No. 6 Andy Roddick, a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) winner over No. 14 Tommy Robredo.

Once seemingly invincible, Federer was beaten for the sixth time this year. The top-ranked Swiss player lost only nine matches in all of 2007. He piled up a string of losses at the beginning of this year when he was battling mononucleosis. . . .

Serena Williams's 17-match winning streak ended with a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) loss to Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals of the German Open in Berlin.

The 17th-ranked Russian pressured Williams's backhand, the same tactic that worked a day earlier in an upset of top-ranked Justine Henin.

"It's not like I played my best and lost; it could be worse," Williams said. "I can sit here and name 50 things I could do better."

Safina will face 18-year-old Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in today's semifinals. Azarenka ousted 15th-seeded Alona Bondarenko, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. . . .

Rejecting pleas from its players and coach, the Spanish tennis federation chose Madrid's bullring yesterday as the venue for the Davis Cup semifinal series against the United States.

The Spanish players had preferred one of the three other possible locations -- Benidorm, Tenerife and Gijon -- for the Sept. 19-21 matchup against the defending champions.

Rafael Nadal, the three-time French Open champion, was among eight Spanish players and captain Emilio Sánchez Vicario who signed an open letter this week denouncing the federation's process for choosing the host city.

The team said Madrid's 2,100-foot altitude will remove the team's home-court advantage and accused federation president Pedro Muñoz of favoring the capital city because of sponsorship money.

-- From News Services