Wimbledon ChampionshipsTwo girls held up a home-made banner on Centre Court yesterday. It read "Federer is Betterer". The Swiss player they were referring to was better in his quarter-final match against Chile's Fernando Gonzalez.
Reaching the first quarter-final in his fourth appearance, Gonzalez was the only player that had come this far into the draw without dropping a set. But yesterday he barely tread water. Three sets and less than two hours later the match was over 7-5, 6-2, 7-6, Gonzalez departing and a trail of unforced errors and poor shot selections spelling out where it all went wrong, his win-or-bust tactic falling short.
When Gonzalez stepped on to court with the top seed he fully understood he was walking into a pressure cooker. The Federer game has traditionally taken its opponents into the stressful zone, it squeezes them until some part of their game fractures and opportunities open up. So it was with the left-hander, although drawing gasps for some of his 100mph-plus forehands, hit wantonly at times.
"It's always interesting to play against him because you sort of always have to weather the storm," said Federer, who now meets Australia's Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-final. "He hits the ball with so much pace, takes big swings. He's quite unique I would say."
An exchange of service breaks in the first set before Federer broke the big Gonzalez serve a second time for 7-5 was the number one's first opening before the second set arrived.
This time two service breaks for 6-2 and by then the match looked irretrievable. Gonzalez, used to much longer affairs on clay, held serve with confidence until a tie-break decided the match. An ace on the first of four match points offered Federer his 34th successive grass victory. His last defeat on the surface, to Mario Ancic, was in the first round of 2002 Wimbledon.
What will attempt to arrest his drive towards a third consecutive final is a bundle of energy called Hewitt. A straights-set winner over Spain's Feliciano Lopez, the third seed has not beaten Federer in their last seven meetings. But on yesterday's beating of the left-hander, Hewitt has been able to visibly lift the level of his play.
Lopez, appearing in a Grand Slam final quarter-final for the first time began the game tight with nerves and really didn't unravel at all.
While he took Hewitt's service game once in the first set, it was the 2002 champion's counter-punching and speed that earned him the match. A 7-6 first set, with the crucial break arriving in the last game was followed by a similar second set, Hewitt again making his move on the Lopez serve for 6-4. Finally a tie-break ended the talented Spaniard's eye-catching run, Hewitt relentlessly chasing to win the tie-break 7-2 and the match.
"My whole game came together well," said Hewitt. "I needed it too, he's a dangerous opponent. I had to dictate play as much as possible and I was able to do that."
And so the curious seeding has the world number one and number two facing each other in the semi-final, Federer's veneer of invincibility still intact.
"Little areas" are the places Hewitt will try to exploit but otherwise his view on the reigning champion is no different from anyone. "He can mix it up so well. He's got a great slice, great forehand, a great serve and he moves extremely well. He's got variety. He can serve volley. He can stay back," observed Hewitt.
The other semi-final match-up involves 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, who defeated the 2002 Wimbledon finalist, David Nalbandian 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-2 in two hours, 17 minutes and American Andy Roddick. The last four in the competition have all won Grand Slam titles.
Roddick took five sets to defeat his practice partner and friend Sebastien Grosjean for his seventh successive win over the French man. A typical grinder who refused to lie down Grosjean took the first set 3-6 before Roddick settled with his serve and return. Winning the next two sets 6-2, and 6-1, it looked then four sets would complete the match. But Grosjean, a semi-finalist here for the past two years, broke Roddick in a tight 3-6 fourth set. Again the 22-year-old picked up his game, one service break enough for 6-3 and the match.
The victory puts Roddick one shot away from the final for the third year in succession and the possibility of a repeat of last year's final against Federer. "I felt good. I think everyone knew this was going to be a tough match, He's proved he can play very, very well on this surface," said Roddick. "I really tried not to get down or discouraged. Good to get another five setter under my belt.
"I think you check your personal feelings at the door," he added of Grosjean's friendship. "It's understood that when you go inside the lines you try to beat each other's brains out. I'd love to take it a step or two further and no, I'm not surprised Johansson got this far. I'm excited about it. He serves well, returns well and has no glaring weaknesses."
