Roger Federer made his way back into the French Open semifinals on Tuesday and he’ll now get a chance to end Novak Djokovic’s perfect season.
The 16-time Grand Slam champion advanced by beating Gael Monfils of France 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (3), making it five straight set wins in a row at Roland Garros. Against Djokovic, Federer will be up against the player who eliminated him from the semifinals at the last two major tournaments.
Federer won the French Open in 2009 to complete a career Grand Slam, but he lost in the quarterfinals to Robin Soderling last year. That defeat ended a streak of 23 straight major semifinal appearances for the Swiss.
He had no such worries this year. Despite losing to Monfils in their previous match, in the semifinals of last year’s Paris Masters, Federer is now 6-1 against the Frenchman, including two previous wins at the French Open.
But things are expected to be a bit trickier in the next round against Djokovic. The second-seeded Serb, who advanced to the semifinals when quarterfinal opponent Fabio Fognini withdrew on Monday because of a left leg injury, is 41-0 in 2011 and has won 43 straight matches dating back to last year’s Davis Cup final.
With a victory over Federer, Djokovic can equal John McEnroe’s Open era record of 42 straight wins to start a season. And with three more, he would match Guilermo Vilas’ record 46-match winning streak.
On the women’s side, No. 11 Marion Bartoli defeated 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 (4), 6-4.