Djokovic ousts Nadal to book semi-final shot at Murray

MIAMI: Novak Djokovic sent second-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal packing while Andy Murray advanced courtesy of injured third seed Andy Roddick at the 6.9 million-dollar Sony Ericsson Open.

Djokovic, the 10th seed, avenged his loss to Nadal in the final of the ATP Masters Series tournament at Indian Wells earlier this month with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph that he called the most important of his career.

He booked a clash with his fellow 19-year-old Murray, the 12th seed from Scotland who moved on when Roddick retired late in the first set.

"Certainly I have to say that this is the biggest, and probably the most important victory in my career, and he's the best player I ever won against," said the delighted Djokovic, who claimed his first win over Nadal in three meetings.

Djokovic on Wednesday saved three break points in the final game before closing out the match with an ace after 1hr 37min.

Nadal followed world No. 1 and top seed Roger Federer of Switzerland out of the tournament. Federer was shocked in the fourth round by Argentina's Guillermo Canas, the same player who ended his 41-match winning streak in the second round at Indian Wells.

Canas will bid for a semi-final berth on Thursday when he takes on sixth-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo, while seventh-seeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic takes on Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela.

Nadal, 20, was philosophical.

"The world is not just Federer and me," he said. "There's a lot of good players."