Nadal quits from the Cincinnati Masters

Cincinnati, Aug 16: World number two Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Cincinnati Masters today while fourth seed Novak Djokovic was upset 6-4 6-1 by Spaniard Carlos Moya. Nadal quit when trailing Argentine Juan Monaco 7-6 4-1 in their second-round match, citing cramp in his left forearm and dizziness. 'I have some cramping,said Nadal to the reporters.

''I wasn't grasping the racket very well and I wasn't feeling very well when I went to the court. I couldn't play more than three balls on every point. I wasn't feeling well. I didn't have power in the legs.'' World number 25 Monaco now plays American Sam Querrey, who upset 13th seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 5-7 6-3 6-4.

Djokovic, who beat Andy Roddick, Nadal and world number one Roger Federer to win the Montreal Masters last weekend, was brought back to earth with a bump by former world number one Moya.

Moya broke once to win the first set. Serb Djokovic had a break point in the opening game of the second set but Moya saved it and broke three times to clinch victory and set up a clash with Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro.

Another Spanish former world number one, Juan Carlos Ferrero, upset sixth seed Fernando Gonzalez 6-2 7-6 to reach the third round.

The Spaniard, runner-up last year, cruised through the first set and won the second-set tiebreak 9-7, clinching victory on his sixth match point to set up a meeting with American ninth seed James Blake, who beat German Nicolas Kiefer 6-4 6-4.

Having reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon earlier this year, former French Open champion Ferrero said he was enjoying playing on faster courts more than ever before.

''On clay you have to fight so much more and, you know, I start to feel a little bit better on these kind of courts than clay,'' he said.

Croatian 11th seed Ivan Ljubicic suffered a surprise 6-4 6-4 defeat to Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

Another former world number one Lleyton Hewitt eased through when eighth seed Richard Gasquet retired at 6-1 3-2 down because of blisters on his playing hand.

Hewitt will next face Austrian Juergen Melzer, who saved two match points before beating Croat Mario Ancic 6-3 2-6 7-6.

Later today, top seed Roger Federer begins his title bid against Frenchman Julien Benneteau.

Reuters>