Unseeded Chilean Nicolas Massu brought Andy Roddick's 20-match unbeaten Tour run to a crashing end.
The top two seeds survived second-round scares at the Madrid Masters.
The American stands a few points behind Juan Carlos Ferrero in the ATP entry ranking system.
The 25-year-old Frenchman hopes to silence Tim Henman's fanatical fan club in the first quarter-final at Wimbledon.
The Spanish claycourt maestro won his first Grand Slam title when he beat unseeded Dutchman Martin Verkerk 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.
The combined forces of Federer and an Italian prankster proved too much for the Spaniard.
The winner of the match will face either Yevgeny Kafelnikov or Felix Mantilla in the final of the Rome Masters.
The top seed breezed to a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Christophe Rochus in the final.
The Spaniard will meet Belgium's Christophe Rochus in the title match at the Valencia Open.
Juan Carlos Ferrero moved smartly into the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over fellow Spaniard Albert Portas.
Playing his first match after a three-month injury layoff, a patched-up Tim Henman was humbled 6-4 6-2 by Croatian Ivan Ljubicic in the first round of the World Indoor Tournament on Tuesday.
The Spaniard beat the rising Thai ace 6-3, 6-1 in brilliant fashion to enter the semis of the Sydney International.
Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio will take charge of his side for the 50th time when they side face South Korea at the World Cup on Saturday and his past record suggests there is every chance he will field his 50th different line-up.
The defending champion battled back from 4-6, 1-4 down to set up a semi-final against unseeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, who upset 10th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero at the Barcelona Open.
Xherdan Shaqiri netted a hat-trick as Switzerland beat Honduras 3-0 in Manaus on Wednesday to secure the runners-up spot in World Cup Group E and a last 16 clash against Argentina.
Real Madrid club doctor Juan Carlos Hernandez said the England captain will be out of action for up to a month because of broken ribs.
The Aussie ace said he rallied after that to take the tie-break 7-0 and tie the Davis Cup match against Ferrero at 2-all.
He is the sixth American and just the 13th player in the history of the ATP rankings to finish the year at the top.
Agassi thrashed South Korean Lee Hyung-taik 6-1, 6-0, 6-0, while the Russian was beaten 6-0, 6-1 by Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium.
Ancelotti's second-string players proved they were up to the task as they secured three points for Real and kept them on course for the inevitable LaLiga title celebrations.
Carlos Tevez was officially unveiled as a Boca Juniors player in a 6.5 million euros ($7.15 million) transfer from Juventus.
Beat Real Madrid's unbeaten run in the 1988-89 season, and thump Rayo Vallecano 5-1
The reopening of China has led to an ongoing readjustment of the global metals and commodities markets. China has a massive production capacity surplus to its own domestic demand. At the same time, it also has high domestic demand. China is also becoming carbon sensitive.
Carter was in politics, but not a politician, certainly not a transactional politician, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
CONCACAF big guns Mexico, the United States and Costa Rica all got off to winning starts on Friday in their qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
A list of monarchs who abdicated after 2000.
At least eight cars were trapped when the 950-ton (tonne) bridge suddenly gave way.
Mbappe says playing for Real Madrid will complete childhood dream
Valverde's knowledge of Barca and his many years of experience of coaching in Spain saw him pip Argentine Jorge Sampaoli and Luis Enrique's assistant Juan Carlos Unzue to the top job.
Teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz steamrolled past Argentine lucky loser Juan Ignacio Londero 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 to kick off his French Open campaign in solid
This week's collection of unbelievably unusual images from across the world
