SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – Swiss maestro Roger Federer sliced through fifth seed Robin Soderling with a 6-1 6-1 victory to reach the Shanghai Masters semi-finals yesterday.
Third seed Federer broke serve three times to wrap up the first set in 29 blistering minutes as the woeful Soderling played little more than a meek cameo role. The second set was four minutes shorter as quick-firing Federer smashed four aces to call time in 54 blurred minutes.
Federer now faces a last four showdown with Serb Novak Djokovic who trounced unseeded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2 6-3.
“Today was a quick match but tomorrow’s against Novak will not be based on fitness, it will be in the details,” said Federer.
“It will be a bit more tactical, with more rallies, and more interesting,” added the Swiss, who will be seeking revenge for the epic five-set defeat by the Serb in the U.S. Open semi-finals last month.
Djokovic, who won the China Open in Beijing on Monday, was hopeful of downing Federer again.
“I just need to focus on my game. If I play as well as I have done recently, I think I have a good chance,” he said.
Britain’s Andy Murray brushed aside burly Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 6-2 as he confirmed his return to form after a recent illness.
Murray took command early in the first set and was hardly troubled in the second as he advanced to last four.
“He struggled a little bit on his serve and wasn’t serving as big as usual, so I managed to get into a lot of the return games,” said Murray.
“I served well and didn’t give him any chances on my serve. I was hitting the ball really cleanly from the back of the court, so it was a good start,” he added.
The error-prone Tsonga was no match for the 23-year-old world number four, whose stinging backhand returns forced the 12th seed into submission.
Murray will meet Juan Monaco in the last four after the Argentine battled to a 6-7 7-5 6-2 win over Austria’s Juergen Melzer, the 13th seed who knocked out world number one Rafa Nadal on Thursaday.
“I know Andy’s a very good player. He fights a lot and it will be tough for me. I think today was playing very well, but if I want to beat Andy, I have to play a little bit better tomorrow,” said the unseeded Monaco, ranked 41 in the world.
