Roger turns into the real Federer to reach semis

| Wednesday January 26, 2011 00:00

There were some who reckoned he was vulnerable going into yesterday's quarter-final against his Swiss compatriot, Stanislas Wawrinka, given the world No. 2 had given up four sets and been broken nine times in five matches. So, after a first-round stroll to bat away Lukas Lacko, a desperate, five-setter against Gilles Simon in round two, another quick workout over Xavier Malisse and a minor dip in getting past Tommy Robredo in four sets, the Swiss took his revenge on the field and the critics by beating up his friend, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 in an hour an 47 minutes, just three minutes longer than Andy Murray took to beat JŸrgen Melzer the day before. The evidence for Federer's decline might not have been totally compelling but it was there; now, one win way from reaching the final, he looks awesome again.

'I'm not quite there yet,' he said, acknowledging that his tennis is getting more attacking by the game. 'I prefer to play aggressive. I don't overdo it either, because that's not the point, just storming to the net, hit clean winners on every shot. It's about building up the right plays and having the right game plan. That's what I seem like I'm having.' He said earlier in the week, 'I don't care about unforced errors,' after making 40 of them (including 14 in the set he lost) against Robredo, an imperfect performance that encouraged his rivals to imagine the owner of 16 grand slams might not be in the best shape to grab his 17th.

Today, he brought his error count down to 24 in three sets. Wawrinka? He sprayed 30 of them all over the court as his run in this tournament ended in a downbeat seventh career loss to Federer. Wawrinka, alert and sharp putting Andy Roddick away on Sunday, played here as if sucked down into the court. Federer sprouted wings again, comfortable in all departments; he upped his serve to bang down five timely aces and getting 77% of his first serves in. Those figures alone told a tale of ease and contentment.

But, as he says, statistics are fine; it is the performance and the result that count. There was nothing wrong with either. His movement, composure and shot selection were too much for Wawrinka, who panicked under pressure and smashed a racket along the way. Clearly Roger knew Stan's game better than Stan knew Roger's - or his own.

Wawrinka employs Federer's former coach, Peter Lundgren, but even the odd nod and a wink from courtside could do little to help his charge as the first set went by in 29 minutes. Wawrinka, normally so full of fight, was subdued - and Federer picked up on his body language. There was brief resistance in the second, token resistance in the third. 'He was just too good,' Wawrinka said. 'Roger is always the same: when he comes to a tournament, he can always win.'

Federer will now face Novak Djokovic in the semi-final after the Serbian beat Tomas Berdych 6-1 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 this morning. On the other side of the draw, Rafa Nadal, still favourite, plays his Spanish compatriot David Ferrer in today's evening match, which starts at 8.30am GMT. Murray is on third against the Ukrainian Aleksandr Dolgopolov (about 5am GMT).  (Guardian)