NEW YORK: Roger Federer avenged his surprise loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at this year’s Wimbledon by beating the Frenchman 6-4 6-3 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the U.S. Open.
Playing his first grand slam tournament as a 30-year-old, the five-times U.S. Open champion was lethal with his serve, whipped angled winners with swashbuckling aplomb and was razor-sharp at the net.
The third-seeded Federer advanced to a scintillating showdown in the last four against top seed Novak Djokovic for his eighth straight U.S. Open semi-finals appearance.
World number one Djokovic, the Australian and Wimbledon champion, reached the semis when his Serbian Davis Cup team mate Janko Tipsarevic retired with a leg injury while trailing 7-6 6-7 6-0 3-0.
Five-time winner Federer has lost just one set at Flushing Meadows on his way to the semis.
“I played great,” said Federer, who boomed in 72 percent of his first serves in Thursday’s closing match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. “For me it continues, and that is awesome.
“I’m very happy with the way I’m playing, the way I’m moving and I’m enjoying myself on the court.”
Tsonga was coming off a five-set victory in which he came back after trailing two sets to one against American Mardy Fish and was not at his sharpest.
“I didn’t play really well. I didn’t move well,” said Tsonga, 26. “I didn’t serve well enough (53 percent of first serves), my energy level was down.”
Meanwhile, Serena Williams shrugged off a shaky start to book a semifinal berth at the US Open on Thursday, while Samantha Stosur ended Vera Zvonareva’s bid to reach the final for a second straight year.
Williams, whose 13 Grand Slam titles include three US Open triumphs, struggled early with her serve but looked her usual overpowering self by the time when wrapped up a 7-5, 6-1 victory over 20-year-old Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The American has reached the final four without dropping a set will face world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the final four.
Their match was moved from the water-logged Louis Armstrong Stadium, where the legacy of days of heavy rain was water seeping up through the court surface behind one baseline.
Wozniacki beat No. 10 Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 7-6 (5) and this will be Wozniacki’s first match against Williams since she became No. 1 — as good a chance as any to show the world she belongs there. (Agencies)