ROME, 6 May 2005 — A fair-play gesture backfired badly for Andy Roddick as Spain’s Fernando Verdasco came back from the brink of defeat to oust the top seed 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 in the third round of the Rome Masters claycourt event yesterday.

One set down and serving at 3-5 and 0-40 in the second, a linesman called Verdasco’s second serve out and the umpire started to announce the American as the winner.

Roddick, however, corrected the call, telling the umpire the ball was in. Verdasco went on to hold serve and then break his distracted-looking opponent in the following game. The set went to a tiebreak, which the Spaniard won easily by whipping crosscourt winners off both wings.

Roddick then put a forehand wide to drop serve in the opening game of the decider and the unseeded Verdasco, now playing with increasing confidence, went on to claim victory.

His reward will be a quarterfinal against fellow claycourt specialist and No. 9 seed Guillermo Coria of Argentina, who crushed home favorite Davide Sanguinetti 6-0, 6-4.

Roddick was generous in praise of Verdasco and also spoke of his own improvement on a surface that does not favor his serve-and-volley style. Before losing in the Italian capital he had won seven matches in a row on clay, including his run to the US Claycourt title in Houston last month.

Fourth seed Tim Henman of Britain also tumbled out when he lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to Slovak Dominik Hrbaty but sixth seed Andre Agassi remained on course to repeat his 2002 victory in Rome.

The 35-year-old American gave a near-faultless display to defeat Ivan Ljubicic 7-6, 6-3.

The big-serving Croat has already reached four finals this year and had won his last two matches against Agassi, including one contest in the Davis Cup earlier this season.

Spain’s Alberto Martin also progressed with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Luis Horna of Peru.

Clijsters Forced to Retire From German Open

In Berlin, former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters retired from the German Open yesterday after injuring her right leg in an awkward slide to the net during a third-round match against Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder.

Later at the Steffi Graf stadium top seeded 18-year-old Maria Sharapova, who will become world No. 1 if she wins in Berlin, swept aside China’s Shuai Peng 6-2, 6-1. Clijsters failed to convert four match points before surrendering her match while leading 7-6, 5-6.

“(My leg) is inflamed now which is causing a lot of pressure around the muscles and the joints,” said a pale-looking Clijsters, who was limping and appeared in pain.

The Belgian, who missed most of last season with a career-threatening wrist injury, said she was not sure exactly how the injury occurred but suspected it was the slide late in the second set, after which she had a sharp pain in her knee.

Clijsters added that she would have to wait several days for a scan to see if she had damaged any ligaments.

Sharapova, currently the world No. 2, now faces Belgium’s other ex-world No. 1, Justine Henin-Hardenne, in the quarterfinals.

Henin-Hardenne struggled to beat Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-4 6-2. The resurgent Belgian who won in Warsaw on Sunday has had to play three sets in all of her matches.

Sharapova, who had a bye into the second round and has lost just seven games in the tournament so far, looked composed and confident on the court.

“I haven’t won anything since last year. But I feel relaxed and good. I haven’t had a challenge yet and I think my next match is going to be tougher,” said the Russian.

Second seed and defending champion Amelie Mauresmo made a shaky start against her French compatriot Virginie Razzano, losing her first two service games, but after trailing 4-1 she found her form to win the next 10 games in succession.

Razzano broke again as Mauresmo served for the match, only for the defending champion to break back and win 6-4 6-2.

Swiss Schnyder now plays fourth seed and US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova who was put through her paces by Spain’s Conchita Martinez, who is 14 years her senior. The Russian teenager won the tight base-line conquest 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Former French Open winner Mary Pierce lost 6-2, 7-5 to sixth seed Nadia Petrova and a third Russian also made progress when eighth seed Elena Bovina beat Meghann Shaughnessy of the United States 6-4, 6-2.

Local favorite Julia Schruff of Germany, who played the match of her life on Wednesday when she knocked out third seed Anna Myskina of Russia, lost to 13th seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro 6-3, 6-2.