Roddick Unravels Against Russian

All you need to know was the day belonged to Igor and Jarkko, and nearly found room for Sebastien.

These afternoons are designed to unsettle tournament directors and disrupt the carefully crafted plans of tennis fans. Within a few hours, the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells lost third-seeded Andy Roddick, the mercurial shot-maker Marat Safin of Russia and was in danger of taking another blow when No. 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain turned over on his right ankle.

It started Wednesday when Igor Andreev of Russia upset an unsettled Roddick, winning their fourth-round match, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1. It’s not a good sign when Roddick, who failed to hit a single winner in the third set, was more on point in the interview room than he was on the court.

He inexplicably unraveled after winning the second set, failing to take advantage of three break points in the first game of the third and went on “walkabout” and lost his serve in the next game.

“I’m not the captain of Team Fun right now,” said Roddick.

Neither was Safin, who became unnerved by what he said were a couple of bad calls against him. Jarkko Nieminen of Finland defeated Safin, 6-4, 6-3.

A theme of doom seemed to be building when Nadal rolled his ankle late in the first set against Sebastien Grosjean of France. Nadal, who was leading 5-3, received immediate treatment and had the ankle wrapped before winning, 6-4, 6-2.

Still, he said he was in pain afterward and withdrew from a later doubles match “more for precaution.”

Leave it to the Swiss to restore some order. Wild-card entrant Martina Hingis pulled up impressively after her upset of Lindsay Davenport on Tuesday by taking out a hard-hitting teenager, beating Dinara Safina of Russia, 6-3, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.

Hingis, playing a full schedule this year for the first time since 2002, in the semifinals will face No. 3 Maria Sharapova of Russia, who defeated No. 7 Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany, 6-1, 6-3.

Hingis was not pleased with an 11 a.m. start time for the Safina match.

“I think a lot of things have to do with TV, but I still don’t think it’s right,” she said. “At least 12 o’clock or 1 o’clock start would be definitely more appropriate for a quarterfinal match.”

Top-seeded Roger Federer, meanwhile, didn’t seem to be sweating over much on Wednesday, on or off the court. He beat French teenager Richard Gasquet, 6-3, 6-4, in the fourth round and today plays Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, who moved on with a straight-set win against countryman Mario Ancic. As it often happens, Federer was asked to discuss lesser mortals, such as Roddick.

“People may jump on him a little bit,” Federer said. “I don’t think he is too concerned. I think he needs to get his game right. That’s maybe not been the case too much lately. I think he’ll finish the year strong. Sort of hope he keeps his ranking, so I’m not going to face off too early with him in the draw.”

Roddick’s ranking is expected to drop from No. 3 to No. 4 after this event, and although Federer said otherwise, there seems to be a sense of unease and bewilderment around Roddick. He has lost four times in 2006 to players ranked outside the top 50, and now to No. 26 Andreev.

“You know, there’s only so many times you can say a guy played really well, too good, before you start questioning what it is you’re doing,” Roddick said.

Andreev, who will play No. 12 James Blake in the quarterfinals, has found himself in much tighter spots here, having saved nine match points in the third round against Robin Soderling of Sweden.

“I think now I used all my luck for all my life,” Andreev said. Hopefully, that’s not true.... If you ask me to explain, I cannot explain.”

Blake led Tommy Haas of Germany, 6-3, 3-0, when Haas retired from their night match because of food poisoning, officials said. Regarding Andreev, Blake joked about calling Roddick for a scouting report, adding in his TV interview, “if he’s not breaking too many rackets.”