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LONDON: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal moved to within one win each
of a third successive Wimbledon final showdown after cruising
through their quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Federer kept up his flawless record at the All
England Club this year by dispatching unseeded Croatian Mario Ancic
6-1, 7-5, 6-4 to reach his 17th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.
Nadal followed Federer on Centre Court and
produced an even more intimidating display to destroy Andy Murray
6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Federer faces former world No. 1 Marat Safin,
who defeated Feliciano Lopez, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3, while Nadal
takes on either Arnaud Clement or Rainer Schuettler.
Clement had just taken the second set 7-5, after
losing the first set 6-3, when fading light on Court One halted play
for the day. The unseeded veterans will return on Thursday to finish
their match.
If the world’s two best players can win those
matches they will collide in a Grand Slam final for the sixth time
and the 14th in all tournaments.
Nadal’s confidence is sky-high after his
three-set thrashing of Federer in the French Open final last month,
but he has yet to get the better of the world No. 1 on grass, losing
to the Swiss in two successive Wimbledon finals.
Federer was never seriously tested by Ancic, the
last man to beat him on grass at Wimbledon in 2002, as he extended
his unbeaten run on grass to 64 matches in just one hour and 42
minutes.
Safin beat Federer the last time they met in a
Grand Slam semifinal at the 2005 Australian Open, so the defending
champion has no intention of underestimating his next opponent.
“I never looked at Marat like No. 89 in the
world. That’s ridiculous. He knows that himself,” Federer said.
“He’s finally showing again what he can do.
It’s just quite surprising he does it here at Wimbledon in some
ways, because he used to dislike playing on this surface.
“But I feel so comfortable on this Centre
Court that my confidence level is obviously very high.”
Murray had shown off his biceps after beating
Richard Gasquet in the last round but Nadal is a real heavyweight
and he swatted aside the British No. 1 to leave the host nation
still waiting for a first men’s singles success since Fred
Perry’s triumph in 1936.
Nadal admitted he had never pla-yed better at
Wimbledon. “I pl-ayed probably my best match against a difficult
opponent,” he said. “I was very aggressive on my forehand and
backhand and had a lot of power. But I was surprised to win in
straight sets and I’m happy to be in the semifinals.”
-- AFP
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