Times wires
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
PARIS — Quickly and rather quietly, Roger Federer is back in the French Open semifinals.
But there is nothing low key about what comes next for the 16-time Grand Slam champion: a showdown with Novak Djokovic, 41-0 this year and unbeaten in his past 43 matches overall.
The no-fuss, no-muss Federer has won all 15 sets he has played in the French Open this year, capped Tuesday by a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) quarterfinal victory over No. 9-seeded Gael Monfils.
"For me, the plan is trying to get a step further and into the finals," said Federer, who won the 2009 title at Roland Garros to complete a career Grand Slam and lost in the quarterfinals a year ago. "At the end of the day, that's, for me, the big picture."
Nevertheless, his semifinal with Djokovic is sure to be the talk of the tennis world until it's played Friday.
For Djokovic — whose quarterfinal opponent, Fabio Fognini, withdrew Monday with an injured left leg — a victory over Federer would guarantee a rise to No. 1 in the rankings for the first time. It also would make the second seed 42-0 in 2011, tying John McEnroe in 1984 for the best start to a season in the Open era, which began in 1968. And it would put Djokovic one win from his first French Open title, the objective he cares most about at the moment.
For Federer, a victory would put him into his first Grand Slam final in more than 16 months, his longest drought since he won his first major title at Wimbledon in 2003. It would allow him to make clear he's still at the top of the game as his 30th birthday approaches in August. Plus, it would serve as something of a rebuke to Djokovic, who beat Federer in the semifinals at the U.S. Open in September and Australian Open in January.
"There's less at stake for me than for him," said Federer, who is 13-9 against Djokovic over their careers, 0-3 this year. "He's got a lot of things going on."
The last player to defeat Djokovic was Federer, a 6-4, 6-1 winner in the ATP Finals at London on Nov. 27.
In one of today's men's quarterfinals, No. 4 Andy Murray faces unseeded Juan Ignacio Chela. Playing with a torn tendon in his right ankle, Murray on Tuesday won the last five games to finish off a 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 comeback victory over No. 15 Viktor Troicki in a fourth-round match suspended Monday night because of darkness.
"I've done a lot icing. Taking a lot pills," said Murray, who has won eight of his past nine five-set matches. "I was given crutches, which I didn't use, because I didn't know how to."
On the women's side, defending champion Francesca Schiavone, seeded fifth, came back after losing 10 of the first 12 games and beat No. 14 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 1-6, 7-5, 7-5. Thursday she meets No. 11 Marion Bartoli, who defeated No. 13 Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 champion, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.
Bartoli is the fourth woman from France to reach the French semifinals in the Open era. When Kuznetsova shanked a forehand to end their match, Bartoli said she thought:
"My God, I'm in the semifinal of my home Grand Slam. Finally I can play well here."