Federer, Nadal lose in semis of Pacific Life Open

A dejected Federer looks down during his last four loss while Spain's second seed Rafael Nadal reacts after his 2-6, 3-6 semifinal defeat to Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the third seed. (Photo credit: Shanghai Daily)Photo Gallery>>WASHINGTON, March 22 (Xinhua) -- World number one Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both conceded defeats in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open tennis tournaments on Saturday.

Unseeded American Mardy Fish, a former top-20 player now ranked98th in the world, blew past the Swiss 6-3, 6-2 after Nadal was swept by Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic with the same score.

"Could have served better, sure. Could have returned better, sure," Federer said after the match. "But the guy was on top of his game. He took his chances."

Federer, who has reigned as the world number one since 2004, has made an uncharacteristically slow start to the season, still searching for his first title of 2008.

A 12-time Grand Slam champion, he fell in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and was ousted in the first round at Dubai by Briton Andy Murray.

Earlier, Djokovic, 20, broke Nadal twice in each set to secure victory in one hour 28 minutes.

"I played really well and tactically I played really smart," the 20-year-old Serb said. "I knew that I had to be aggressive, take control of the match and try to go for the shots, which I did."

Nadal beat Djokovic 6-2, 7-5 in last year's final.