Roger Federer exits Australian Open, loses to Andreas Seppi

Andreas Seppi knew he couldn't relax.

Up two sets against Roger Federer, the 30-year-old Italian was eying a big upset but remained wary of the opponent on the other side of the net.

"It's never comfortable playing Roger," Seppi said in an on-court interview with a TV reporter.

He should know.

Seppi lost his first 10 matches against Federer before finally finding the all-time great's number in a monster upset on one of tennis' biggest stages.

Seppi handed Federer his earliest exit at the Australian Open in 14 years, gutting out a four-set win in the third round on Friday that took three hours to complete and ended with one of the unheralded Italian's best shots on match point in a fourth-set tiebreaker.

Following a hard serve, Seppi found himself in no man's land on Federer's return but got the ball back. It drew Federer to the net, but Seppi was able to track the next shot down in the corner, looping a forehand over Federer and down the line for the winner.

It finished off a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) win that ended Federer's run of 11 consecutive semifinal appearances at the season's first grand slam event.

Federer hadn't lost this early at the Australian Open since he was also ousted in the third round in 2001.

The four-time Australian Open champion -- his last win came in 2010 -- Federer aced Seppi 15 times but also committed nine double faults, including one to go down 15-30 in the 12th game of the fourth set.

The Swiss star fought back and won the game with an ace to force a tiebreaker.

Federer holds a men's-record 17 grand slam titles, but it's the three-time ATP winner Seppi who moved on to face the winner of Friday's match between Malek Jaziri and Nick Kyrgios.

No. 6 seed Andy Murray, the three-time Australian Open runner-up, eased to a 6-1, 6-1, 7-5 win over Joao Sousa and will face No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov, who battled Marcos Baghdatis for 3 hours and 27 minutes in a 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win.

Also Friday, No. 7 Tomas Berdych lost 11 games in a straight-set win over Viktor Troicki.

No. 3 seed Rafael Nadal, the 2009 champ, is also in action Friday with a match against Dudi Sela.

[SportsNetwork.com]