Britain's Andy Murray has suffered a gloomy fourth-round exit from the French Open, beaten in straight sets by Czech Tomas Berdych as darkness descended on Roland Garros. The Scot, seeded four, never got to grips with an inspired opponent either side of a short rain delay, losing 6-4 7-5 6-3 as Berdych reached the last eight for the first time. Murray did well to stay with Berdych in the opening games but dropped serve at 3-4 to hand his opponent the initiative. Berdych, the 15th seed, went 2-0 in the second set before a Murray fightback was interrupted by rain with the Scot leading 4-3. When play resumed Berdych broke a disgruntled Murray at 5-5 then served out the set before rattling through the third with daylight rapidly fading. Berdych will play Russia's Mikhail Youzhny for a place in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Roger Federer's goal in the quarter-finals of the French Open will be to keep Robin Soderling moving. The tactic has worked in the past. Federer takes a 12-0 record against Soderling into their match on Tuesday, and that includes victories at three Grand Slam events last year. Federer won when they met in last year's final at Roland Garros, and beat Soderling in the fourth round at Wimbledon and in the quarter-finals at the US Open.
"We have experience playing against each other," Federer said. "I've never lost against him, so obviously that's a good record to have." Soderling upset Rafael Nadal in the fourth round at Roland Garros last year, clearing the path for Federer to complete a career Grand Slam. Federer has a funny way of showing any gratitude - he has lost only one of the past 10 sets against Soderling.
Federer adapted on Sunday to playing good friend and fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in a Grand Slam for the first time. They teamed to win a gold medal in doubles at the 2008 Olympics but were on opposite sides of the net in the fourth round, and Federer won 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Soderling advanced by beating the No 10 seed Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Another match tomorrow will feature two first-time Roland Garros quarter-finalists, Mikhail Youzhny and Tomas Berdych. Youzhny advanced when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired with a right hip injury trailing 6-2, and Berdych defeated Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-3. Two women's quarter-finals match-ups are set: the No 5 seed Elena Dementieva will play the nineteenth Nadia Petrova, and three-seeded Caroline Wozniacki will face Francesca Schiavone.
Petrova advanced by beating the second seed Venus Williams, 6-4, 6-3. Williams came into the tournament with the best record this year on the women's tour but continued a streak of 14 French Open tournaments without a singles title. Four-time champion Justine Henin advanced to the fourth round when she rallied in a winner-take-all set, beating Maria Sharapova 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. The match had been suspended overnight after two sets. *Agencies
