MONTE CARLO, Monaco, April 16 (UPI) -- Stanislas Wawrinka pulled off a huge upset Thursday by eliminating second-seeded Roger Federer in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
Federer had reached the title match of this tournament each of the last three years, losing on all three occasions to current world No. 1 Rafael Nadal.
This time, Federer did not make it to the quarterfinals, suffering a 6-4, 7-5 setback on the red clay at the Monte Carlo Country Club. This is the third Masters series event of the year.
Wawrinka, ranked 16th in the world, teamed with Federer to win the doubles gold medal for Switzerland at last year's Olympics. Federer is still looking for his first championship of the season.
Nadal, meanwhile, had his third-round match suspended by rain. Nicolas Lapentti had won the opening game of the match when the showers began.
Third-seeded Novak Djokovic ousted Albert Montanes 6-1, 6-7 (4-7), 6-0 and No. 4 seed Andy Murray had a 7-6 (13-11) 1-0 lead when his match against Fabio Fognini was halted by the rain.
In the only other matches completed Thursday, seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco defeated David Ferrer 6-2, 6-1 and Andreas Beck survived against Juan Monaco 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
