Roger Federer moved to within two victories of a record sixth successive Wimbledon title on Wednesday when he crushed Croatia’s Mario Ancic 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 in a brutally one-sided quarterfinal.
Top seed Federer moved into an impressive 17th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal, a run stretching back over four years.
Ancic, a former top 10 player who’s still feeling his way back after battling glandular fever and injury, was the last man to beat Federer on grass here in 2002.
He’s paid a heavy price, losing all six subsequent meetings.
Federer, now with 64 wins in a row on grass, stormed through the first set in just 20 minutes, breaking the 24-year-old Croatian in the second and sixth games and giving up just a single point in four service games.
At 6-1 and 1-1 in the second set, rain forced the players off Centre Court for over two hours, but on the resumption, Ancic briefly rediscovered his composure.
However, a poor volley followed by a second double fault of the match on break point in the 11th game gave Federer a 6-5 lead, which the champion converted into a two-set lead with a ninth ace after only 56 minutes on court.
A marathon opening game of the third set, which lasted 16 minutes, went in Ancic’s favour before Federer again broke, this time in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead.
Ancic, a semifinalist in 2004 and who spent almost four hours coming back from a two-set deficit to beat Fernando Verdasco in the last round, understandably wilted.
Federer swept to victory courtesy of his 15th ace after only one hour 42 minutes of action. — AFP
