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Federer steams into semi-final
23/01/2007 14:34 - (SA)
Melbourne - Swiss world number one Roger Federer reached his 11th successive Grand Slam semi-final with a straight sets win over Spain's seventh seed Tommy Robredo at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
Federer, bidding for his third Australian title, defeated Robredo 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 in 2hr20min and will face American rival Andy Roddick in Thursday's blockbuster semi-final.
He goes into the semi-final holding a 12-1 lead over Roddick in their matches, including wins in the 2004 and 2005 Wimbledon finals and last year's US Open final.
"It's great to see Andy doing well. We've had some great battles over the years, it was a great match especially at Wimbledon, and I think it's the first time we've played here," he said.
"He's been really playing well the last couple of months and he's in great form so I better play well."
In beating Robredo, the defending champion surpassed Ivan Lendl's Open Era record of 10 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals.
Only eight players in the Open Era (post-1969) have successfully defended their Australian Open crown, the last time by Andre Agassi in 2001.
"Tommy's a great player and he's really improved his position over the last couple of years, he's very steady from the baseline, he's a great runner and he's putting it together," Federer said.
"I'm very happy to be through in a tough straight sets.
"We had to make adjustments tonight because of the breeze and that's one of the reasons why we got broken so many times on the other side of the court, it was really breezy from one end.
"I had to work really hard tonight."
Although not as emphatic as his fourth round performance over Serbian Novak Djokovic, Federer was always in command over Robredo, stretching his record over the Spaniard to 7-0 without dropping a set over more than four years.
Federer claimed six service breaks and came up with 42 winners offset by 31 errors. Robredo, playing in his first Australian Open quarter-final, committed 28 errors.
The Swiss is yet to drop a set in his five matches at this year's Australian Open.
The win extended Federer's unbeaten streak to 34 matches as he closes in on his personal record unconquered run of 35 matches set in 2005. Argentina's Guillermo Vilas holds the record with 46.
Federer has been the world number one ranked player since February 2004.
- AFP
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