New York: Roger Federer avenged his loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Wimbledon this year when he beat the Frenchman 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday to reach the semifinals of the US Open and give himself a chance of a sixth title at Flushing Meadows.
Showing no signs of slowing down in his first Grand Slam tournament as a 30-year-old, Federer used his serve as a lethal weapon, whipped angled winners with his groundstrokes and played superbly at the net.
“I played great,” Federer said in an on-court interview. “For me it continues, and that is awesome. “I’m very happy with the way I’m playing, the way I’m moving and I’m enjoying myself on the court.”
The third-seeded Federer advanced to a scintillating showdown in the last four against top-seeded Novak Djokovic and his eighth straight US Open semi.
Top seed Djokovic advanced to the last four when his Serbian Davis Cup teammate Janko Tipsarevic retired in the fourth set of their quarterfinal on Thursday. World number one Djokovic was leading 7-6 (2), 6-7 (3), 6-0, 3-0 when Tipsarevic, who had his leg strapped during the match, quit after three hours and 27 minutes of play at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic faces Roger Federer in what promises to be a mouth-watering semifinal clash at the US Open. Reuters
“Congratulations to Janko for a fantastic tournament and a great effort today,” Djokovic told the centre court audience. “He’s a great friend of mine and it’s not easy to play against him today.”
Djokovic said he realised his compatriot was in trouble after the first two hotly-contested tiebreaker sets. The top seed won the first tie-break 7-2, and lost the second 7-3.
“I sensed when I made a break in the third set that he lost a lot of pace on his first serve and was not able to move so well,” he added.
Djokovic also gave onlookers a scare when he doubled over and called for the trainer after making a spectacular sliding forehand winner in the first game of the fourth set. After getting the big toe on his left foot treated and bandaged, Djokovic went back to business before the 20th-seeded Tipsarevic signalled he had had enough.
“My left toe is bleeding,” explained Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Djokovic. “These things happen all the time when you’re sliding like I do.”
Meanwhile, World No. 2 Rafael Nadal moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (1), 6-1, 6-2 win over Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller. The Spaniard next faces American Andy Roddick for a place in the last four.
Roddick, the 2003 US Open winner, beat fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on distant Court 13 after a wet spot behind the baseline on Louis Armstrong Stadium court could not be fixed.
When they called Roddick and Ferrer back to the court, after using a vacuum cleaner and thin rubber hose and towels to try and fix the problem, the American was angered to see water still bubbling up to the surface. ”I’m baffled, I’m baffled. Why are we out here?” he railed at tournament referee Brian Earley. “Find us a court.”
Roddick went back into the hallway and continued to vent his frustration at not getting on with his match, given the compressed schedule forced by two successive washouts at Flushing Meadows. When the players were asked whether they would be willing to move to Court 13 rather than wait for a chance to get on the grandstand showcourt, Roddick said: “Let’s go play, let’s go play. We just want to play.”
In another fourth round match, Murray beat American Donald Young 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 and will face another American John Isner in the quarters. The big-serving Isner put out Gilles Simon of France 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4).
In the women’s singles, top-seed Caroline Wozniacki defeated German 10th seed Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 7-6 to reach the semifinals. World number one Wozniacki, aiming to claim her first Grand Slam title, squandered a 5-3 lead serving for the second set but broke Petkovic in the 12th game to force a tiebreaker, which she won 7-5.
Wozniacki, coming off a three-set struggle against former US Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round, was shifted to Court 13 for the quarterfinal after a wet spot on the Louis Armstrong Stadium court could not be fixed.
The 21-year-old Dane was expecting to face another stern test in the last four, where she will meet three-time US Open winner Serena Williams, who beat 17th-seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-1. ”I’m looking forward to that match,” Wozniacki said in an on-court interview about the 29-year-old Williams, who has been sidelined most of the year due to injuries and illness.
Reuters