rogerfederer.com - Semis: here we come

Semis: here we come

Roger mastered American James Blake for an eighth straight time to claim a 7-5, 7-6(5), 6-4 win in two hours to march into Friday's semi-final against Novak Djokovic.

Both players exchanged service breaks early in the opening set and Blake was in the match before a forehand error on set point handed Roger the first set. It was the same again in the second with services exchanged but Blake came under pressure on his service and fought off break points in the eighth and two set points in the 10th before the set went to a tiebreaker - going to Roger in the end.

Roger eventually held two match points and clinched victory when Blake's backhand sailed over the baseline at the end of the third set. "James is such a great player, hits some incredible shots and he's so dangerous on any point, he's improved a lot over the last few years," Roger said after the match.

The victory keeps alive Roger's drive to win the first Grand Slam of the year for the third consecutive time and pull within one of Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles. "It's great to be on top of the game for so long and be compared to the greats like Rod Laver and Sampras," Roger said. His comment to the upcoming match against Djokovic, Roger commented: "He's done a phenomenal job, four semi-finals of Grand Slams at his age, I was never close to that at his age, he's improved so much in the last couple of years and it's exciting playing the best in the world".