Roger Federer won his 500th career match on Friday, beating David Ferrer 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters.
”I am very happy to have done it here,” said Federer, who reached the final in Monte Carlo last year. ”That is a lot of games. I’m glad they are victories.”
The 10-time Grand Slam champion has never lost a set to Ferrer in six matches. ”I am a bit surprised, because he is a very good player,” Federer said. ”To beat him 6-4, 6-0 is really phenomenal.”
The top-ranked Federer will play either 11th-seeded Richard Gasquet or two-time champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in Saturday’s semifinals.
Federer’s first career win came against Guillaume Roux of France in September 1998 at an indoor tournament in Toulouse, France.
”I remember he was coming back from a Davis Cup tie in Israel and was tired,” Federer said. ”I took him down. The first few questions came right away: ‘What are you going to do with your first prize money?’ Put it in the Swiss bank; that was my answer.”
Federer’s victory also took him to more than $30-million in earnings.
”Two incredible numbers,” Federer said. ”I’ve come a long way.”
Also, Tomas Berdych won 12 straight games after trailing 3-0 in the second set to beat Robin Soderling of Sweden 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.
”The start wasn’t so good today, but then things changed,” the 10th-seeded Czech said. ”I’m really happy that I can sit here and try to prepare for tomorrow’s semifinals.”
Berdych attacked Soderling’s serve and outmanoeuvred his taller opponent with accurate ground strokes to get a spot in the last four, where he will face either defending champion Rafael Nadal or qualifier Philipp Kohlschreiber. — Sapa-AP