Two-time defending champion Roger Federer continued his mastery over Americans at the US Open, beating fifth seed James Blake on Thursday to reach the semifinals.
The 25-year-old Swiss superstar overpowered Blake 7-6 (9-7), 6-0, 6-7 (9/11), 6-4 to extend his wining streak against United States opponents to 27 matches.
Andy Roddick, who Federer could meet in Sunday’s final, is the last American to beat him, but that was three years ago in Montreal.
But first Roddick must get past his Saturday semifinal match against unseeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.
Federer will play another Russian, Nikolay Davydenko, for the other place in Sunday’s men’s final.
Davydenko reached his first US Open semifinal by rallying to defeat 14th seeded German Tommy Haas 4-6, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in a five-setter earlier on Thursday.
It wasn’t classic Federer but he found a way to fight off the set points and tie Ivan Lendl’s record of 10 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals.
”I was happy with the way I hit the ball because I knew the crowd would be tough and I would have to get used to a night session on Ashe,” said Federer, who is also bidding to become the first since Lendl in 1987 to post three successive US Open crowns.
”I could have locked it up earlier. I took a while today [Thursday]. But in the end it was great tennis.”
Federer fired off nine aces, looking flash in taking the second set in just 22 minutes in the two hour, 47-minute evening match in front of 23 000 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
He hammered 59 winners and had a 79% success rate on his first serve. Blake made 41 unforced errors and had four double faults.
Blake failed in his bid to make it to his first Grand Slam semifinal and now owns a dismal 1-8 record when facing a number one player.
He did make Federer look human in the third set by becoming the first player to take a set off him in the tournament.
Blake, who grew up in the New York area, is enjoying one of the best hard-court seasons of his career but, like almost every ATP player, good results fly out the window when facing the Swiss magician.
”He does so many things well,” Blake said of Federer. ”He doesn’t get rattled. Does his heart rate ever go above 60?”
Federer, who was hardly tested in the first four rounds, is seeking to win his third Major title of 2006 and tennis fans were salivating over another Federer-Rafael Nadal winner-take-all match-up.
So far Federer has held up his end of the bargain, but Nadal failed to fulfil his, losing on Wednesday to Youzhny in four sets 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1.
Federer got on track in the second game of the second set when he converted his break point with a superb backhand pass down the line.
Federer followed with a sizzling stretch of tennis winning 12 of 15 points en route to a 5-0 set lead.
In the opening set, Federer looked tentative, trying to get a feel for his opponent and the Arthur Ashe court, which he hadn’t played on in almost a year.
”You make mistakes, the momentum shifts and then it is a tough match,” Federer said. ”This is nothing new for me to be in a struggle.”
Federer praised the play of Blake, who had the New York crowd in his favour.
Blake gave Federer all he could handle in the third set tie-break. He got lucky on the final point when Federer fell while stretching for a backhand, rolling his right ankle and hitting his knee on the pavement.
”He’s human,” Blake said. ”It wasn’t a walk in the park for him.”
But losing a set for the first time in the tournament seemed to embolden Federer to regain control of the match and pull it out in the fourth.
”He puts a ton of pressure on you,” Blake said. ”He’s like Michael Jordan looking at an open jumper. He’s going to hit it every time.”
This marks just the second time in the Open era there are two Russian men in the semifinal of a Grand Slam tournament.
The 25-year-old Davydenko clinched the match with a forehand blast down the middle, ending the three hour, 45-minute marathon.
”This is special for me because I reached the semifinal at the US Open,” seventh seeded Davydenko said. ”This is my best result here. I can’t tell you how I did it. Just got lucky with the break points.”
The German Haas didn’t give up easily, surviving one match point before finally surrendering as he struggled to hold serve in the final set. — AFP
