Federer Loss Clears Way for Nadal to Reach Top

MASON, Ohio — With Roger Federer’s third-round loss Thursday in the Cincinnati Masters, Rafael Nadal has an opportunity to displace Federer as the world’s No. 1 player.

If Nadal wins this tournament, Federer’s 235-week reign will end.

Federer fell for the third time in four matches — a 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-6 (5) defeat to No. 22 Ivo Karlovic. Nadal — who was scheduled to play Tommy Haas Thursday night — has won 30 straight matches, including five consecutive titles.

Federer was not in the mood to talk about the rankings after his loss. Asked if he would continue following this tournament to see how Nadal fares, Federer simply said, “No.” Later, he was asked to what extent he hoped Nadal would lose, thus preserving his No. 1 ranking.

“I don’t care,” Federer said.

Tennis fans are left to wonder: Is something wrong with Federer and, if so, what exactly is the cause for his sudden return to mortality?

Federer lost to Nadal in the epic Wimbledon final, he fell in Toronto to Gilles Simon, who was coming off a tournament victory in Indianapolis, and on Thursday he lost to one of the top servers in the game. Perhaps a combination of top-notch opponents, bad draws and a touch of bad luck caught up with him.

The other view is that, in the past, Federer has managed to win those matches.

Karlovic, though, did not see a difference in his opponent.

“He didn’t have a lot of unforced errors,” said Karlovic, who recorded 22 aces and beat Federer for the first time in seven attempts. “He was playing well from the baseline, and I had almost no chance to break him. So I think that he was playing on the same level as before.”

Although Federer struggled in his opening-round match, needing three sets and a second-set tie breaker to beat Robby Ginepri, Karlovic could not break his serve Thursday.

Instead, Federer — who had only 14 unforced errors compared to Karlovic’s 37 — simply could not take advantage of the few opportunities he had.

After Federer pushed a final backhand long, the 6-foot-10 Karlovic fell to the ground in ecstasy. After shaking hands with Federer, Karlovic walked to center court, raised his long arms high above his head and basked in the applause of the pro-Federer crowd.

“He definitely served well,” said Federer, who has won 97 of the 98 career service games he has played against Karlovic. “Maybe in the last tie breaker when I had three chances on second serves, I wasn’t able to get one when I really needed to be on even terms with him. I guess that cost me the match, which is hard to accept.”

Federer will try to avoid becoming discouraged.

“So far, it’s O.K.,” he said. “I guess I’ll analyze and assess my game after the U.S. Open. For the moment, it’s just all a blur. It’s so many tournaments in a row, big tournaments in a row. It’s hard.”