Men's semi final places have been decided at the Beijing Olympics; Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are through, but Roger Federer is out of the Olympics.

The top seed, who will next week fall to number two on the world rankings for the first time in five years, lost his quarter final match against eighth seed American James Blake in straight sets.

Blake looked in control from the start, winning the first set comfortably before taking the second in a dominating tiebreak 6-4, 7-6(2).

The eighth seed will meet Fernando Gonzalez in the first semi final today after the twelfth seed cruised to a straight sets victory over un-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-4, 6-4.

Soon to be world number one Rafael Nadal progressed to the semi finals with ease, losing just four games in his quarter final to un-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria, winning 6-0, 6-4 in just 63 minutes.

Nadal will face third seed Novak Djokovic in the second semi final after the Serbian came from a set down to defeat un-seeded Gael Monfils of France 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

The semi finals for men will commence at 4.00pm local time on Friday.

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Tags: beijing olympics, sport, Tennis