Five-time U.S. Open champion Roger Federer crushed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday in a quarterfinal interrupted by rain for about 1 1/2 hours in the first set.
Federer reached the semifinals at Flushing Meadows for the eighth consecutive year. In the Wimbledon quarterfinals in June, Tsonga came back from a two-set deficit to stun Federer. That was the only time in Federer’s career that he lost a Grand Slam match after taking the first two sets.
At 2-2 in the third set, Tsonga got a chance to break. But Federer saved that when Tsonga sent a lob wide. From there, Federer was in good shape, and he broke in the next-to-last game when Tsonga double-faulted.
“It’s true, the Wimbledon match does come back into your mind, especially when he’s got break point in the third, and you’re wondering if it will be like Wimbledon,” Federer said. “But I was able to come out of that one.”
Now Federer faces top-seeded Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open semifinals, the fifth straight year they will play in New York. Federer holds a 3-1 edge. In their most recent head-to-head meeting, in this year’s French Open semifinals, Federer ended Djokovic’s 43-match winning streak.
“I don’t know how much Paris is going to help me or help him. It was just one of those great matches of the year. It was special in the moment itself. I hope it’s something similar,” Federer said, looking ahead to Saturday’s semifinals.
Djokovic is 62-2 in 2011 with nine titles, including at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. “He’s had an amazing season so far, had an amazing career,” Federer said. “It’s the biggest challenge in tennis right now, but I’m up to it.”
