Roger Federer (photo) fell 6-4, 6-4 to Jurgen Melzer in the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters yesterday, the former top-ranked player’s earliest defeat in a tournament since Wimbledon last year.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion wasted seven break points against the seventh-seeded Austrian in swirling conditions, with clay regularly blowing off the surface of the court.

“I think I should have definitely gotten one of the sets,” Federer said. “Every time I had this slight opening, things didn’t go my way.”

Melzer, a left-hander who broke once in each set, sealed victory when the second-seeded Federer chopped a weak forehand into the net. Melzer next plays No. 4 David Ferrer of Spain, who defeated 11th-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-3, 6-3.

“I have beaten Rafa last year. I have beaten Nole (Novak Djokovic). So this was the one missing,” Melzer said after beating Federer for the first time in his career. “I had a few shots on the line, a few bad bounces that were going my way. You need that to beat Roger.”

Federer credited Melzer’s attacking play, but said the Austrian enjoyed most of the luck.

“Either he shanks them and they stay in play, he hits the line,” Federer said. “All those things accumulate to something quite frustrating. That’s what made it hard.”

Melzer said Federer had the luck in the fourth round of the US Open last year.

“When we played at the US Open, there were a lot of key points where I felt I was unlucky,” Melzer said. “I thought, luck is going to turn. It did today.”

Federer said he couldn’t remember losing to a left-hander other than Nadal in “seven or eight years.”

Federer said the windy conditions were tough on both players.

“I think probably being down in the score didn’t help, that the wind started to come maybe after the first set when I was down,” Federer said. “Even in the wind, I had all my chances to come back into the match.

“He did well. I think he played aggressive, was able to mix it up. Obviously, I wasted way too many break-point chances today, which was unfortunate.”

Nadal, the six-time defending champion, had no such problems yesterday, comfortably beating Ivan Ljubicic 6-1, 6-3 for his 35th straight win at the tournament.

Nadal will next face third-seeded Andy Murray of Britain, who easily beat Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil 6-2, 6-1.