Tennis:Roger Federer, far short of his fluent
best, beat Spain's Tommy Robredo 6-3 7-6 7-5 today to set up an
Australian Open semi-final showdown with Andy Roddick.
The top seed and defending champion struggled in blustery
conditions against the seventh seed, but still did enough at key
moments to extend his winning streak to 34 matches and stay on
course for his 10th grand slam title.
"Conditions were very slow and it was windy so I had to
adjust to that," said Federer. "Tommy is a tough baseliner so he
plays it smart. I tried to change things up a bit but I struggled
to find my rhythm.
"Overall, I played pretty well. The breaks of serve were due
to the windy conditions. My attacking style worked out well and I
volleyed really well. As long as I get through I'm happy."
Federer started slowly on Rod Laver Arena, making a number of
uncharacteristic errors, but the Swiss number one still broke
Robredo's serve three times in the opening set.
The Spaniard took advantage of this carelessness to contrive
two breaks of his own but Federer typically seized on his first set
point with a flowing backhand down the line.
The world number one continued to misfire in the second,
mixing a couple of wild mis-hits with a succession of weak
groundstrokes into the net, and Robredo stayed with him until the
top seed broke for 5-4.
Federer, 25, then played a poor service game, slipping to
15-40 before sending a tame forehand volley wide.
Robredo comfortably held serve but Federer raised his game in
the tiebreak, roaring into a 6-2 lead before clinching it 7-2.
Federer broke early in the third set but handed the advantage
straight back and if the 24-year-old Robredo had been able to push
harder he could have extended the Swiss maestro further.
Robredo had to serve at 5-6 to save the match and Federer
pounced, wasting his first match point with an errant backhand down
the line before forcing the Spaniard to drift a backhand wide to
seal victory in two hours 20 minutes.
It was the fourth time Federer has reached the semi-final of
a grand slam without dropping a set and his match against sixth
seed Roddick will be his 11th successive appearance in a slam
semi-final, beating Ivan Lendl's professional era record of 10
in a row.
Federer has won the Australian Open twice, beating Marcos
Baghdatis in last year's final and Marat Safin in 2004.