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7/3/08 12:55 AM | Ricky Dimon
Roger Federer fends off both the rain and Mario Ancic to reach the Wimbledon semifinals. Only two matches--the first against Marat Safin--stand in his way of a sixth straight title.
Roger Federer rolled to a routine 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Mario Ancic in one hour and 41 minutes on Wednesday afternoon, advancing to the Wimbledon semifinals. Next up for Federer is yet another unseeded opponent, Marat Safin. The Russian defeated Feliciano Lopez 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(1), 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
Federer has still not dropped a set in recording five of the seven wins necessary to capture an Open Era record sixth consecutive Wimbledon title. The world No. 1 lost just one point in his first four service games as he dominated the opening set in a mere 20 minutes. Ancic gave himself no chance to be competitive by putting in less than half of his first deliveries.
After a minor rain delay, the 6'5'' Croat at least made things interesting in the second frame of play, but Federer pulled off a critical break at 5-5 and served it out in with no problems whatsoever. This time Ancic won only six points in six return games.
A gutsy hold of serve in the longest game of the match gave Ancic a 1-0 lead in the third, but that only delayed the inevitable. The Swiss broke through with Ancic serving at 2-2 and that all but sealed the deal. Federer lost just three points on serve in the final set, so his break point in the fifth game of the match might as well have been match point.
“I'm playing great, serving excellent,” said Federer. “Many aces is always helpful. Some rain delays broke my momentum a little bit. I got back into the match and played really well all the way through.”
Safin and Federer have met this late in a Grand Slam on two previous occasions, both at the Australian Open. Federer won the 2004 title with a straight-set victory in the final, while Safin got revenge one year later in a classic semifinal that went to 9-7 in the fifth. The two players also met last season at Wimbledon, where Federer needed just three sets to take out Safin in the round of 32. Overall Federer leads the head-to-head series 8-2.
Federer made just six unforced errors.
Ancic's grueling win over Fernando Verdasco, 13-11 in the fifth set, left him with almost no shot coming into this match.
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Did you know that... Thomas Johansson's boyhood idol was Mats Wilander.
Administrator, Oct 10, 2008 7:55 PM
cherylmurray, Oct 10, 2008 3:12 PM
cherylmurray, Oct 10, 2008 2:51 PM
RickyDimon, Oct 9, 2008 3:48 PM
milivice, Oct 8, 2008 9:20 PM
mLina, Oct 10, 2008 6:17 PM
Francoise, Oct 10, 2008 11:48 AM
ivanovic33, Oct 10, 2008 11:45 AM
Roger Federer
Mario Ancic
Wimbledon
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