Fatigue finally catches up with marathon man Nadal

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By Mark Lamport-Stokes

INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) - Three-set victories in his two previous matches finally caught up with Rafael Nadal on Saturday when his Pacific Life Open title defence came to an abrupt halt.

The second-seeded Spaniard was broken twice in each set on his way to a 6-3 6-2 crushing by Serb Novak Djokovic, the third seed.

"I have very tough matches in the rounds before, very tight matches," Nadal told reporters after being swept off the court in one hour 28 minutes at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

"You have to be 100 percent and he (Djokovic) play this week, for sure, less hours than me on court, easier matches. Today he play better than me so I cannot do a thing. That's it."

Djokovic, who lost to the long-haired Spaniard in last year's final, has not dropped a set in five matches this week.

Nadal scraped past 17th-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7 7-6 7-5 in the fourth round before beating ninth-seeded American James Blake 7-5 3-6 6-3 in the last eight.

"Today unfortunately I didn't play my best," the Spanish left-hander said. "I had more mistakes than usually. Well, I feel a little bit tired from last two matches.

"If you play against a player like Novak, you have to be at 100 percent if you want to have chances to win. The truth is he played better than me today. It's difficult to say more things."

Overall, though, clay court specialist and world number two Nadal was pleased with his title defence.

"For me it's a very positive tournament, no?" he said. "I play in the semi-final in the first Masters Series event of the season on a hard court, beating two big players in Blake and Tsonga.

"I have to think in a positive way and try to go to Miami with my best chances," he added, referring to the Sony Ericsson Open starting next week.

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