Wimbledon - Federer neutralises Karlovic

Eurosport - Thu, 02 Jul 11:50:00 2009

Five-times champion Roger Federer took the sting out of Croatian Ivo Karlovic's venomous serve to win 6-3 7-5 7-6(2) at Wimbledon and reach a 21st straight Grand Slam semi-final.

TENNIS Roger Federer Wimbledon - 0

Karlovic's thunderous serve had not been broken at this year's Wimbledon but the Swiss maestro nullified the 2.08 metres player's key weapon in the fourth game of their quarter-final and the Croat 22nd seed never looked like recovering.

"You expect a tough scoreline all the time, it's not easy to break him we know that so I am happy to have broken him twice and won the match," Federer said in a courtside interview.

"I love the record I have, reaching so many Grand Slam semis in a row. Twenty one is quite a number and it shows how consistent I have been, how injury-free I have been to keep it up for such a long time."

Karlovic had served 137 aces in the tournament before Wednesday and the signs looked ominous when his first serve of the day went whistling past Federer's ears to take his tally to 138.

But Federer got a sighter in the first game and a blistering blocked backhand return in Karlovic's second service game helped the Swiss to the break which he greeted with huge: "Come on!"

A single break was again enough for Federer to take the second set and though the Croatian took the third to a tiebreak the Swiss clinched it 7-3 with a forehand crosscourt winner after an hour and 42 minutes.

He will play Tommy Haas, seeded 24, for a place in Sunday's final, after the German over-powered fourth seed Novak Djokovic 7-5 7-6(6) 4-6 6-3.

Reuters

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  1. God has given u this trophy and many more...reign on­ federer.

    general

    From Ambrose A., on Wed 1 Jul 10:20PM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    MURRAY WILL WIN A SLAM . . .

    HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA­ HA AHHAAAAA AHAHAHA HAA . . .

    From JEEMS, on Wed 1 Jul 10:15PM

  3. What is there to say! exactly as I mentioned in my last­ comment before this game! a pure copy of Philipoussis!­ No big server has ever trouble Roger! Another semi...­ if one talks about all time great, one should look at­ consistency... Now what should Fedex show again...­ Style, Consistency, all tennis shots... playing two­ generations...
    Just THUMBS UP!
    give it up for the­ guy... he is really amazing!
    Looking forward to Haas­ challenge! will not be surprise if it ends up in a­ strait sets victory of Federer as he has been warned in­ Paris already!
    Something rare happened with women­ Tennis! N° 1,2,3 and 4 as last four! nice... US vs­ RUSSIA ... (the women version of­ "Rocky")
    Don't know about u guys but this­ Wimbledon is been fun...
    Hope the semis and finals will­ live up to expectations!
    Cheers,
    Bobby

    From hervé a, on Wed 1 Jul 9:39PM

  4. AH SEES THOT WAN WAS AH TALL FACKAR

    From JEEMS, on Wed 1 Jul 9:04PM

  5. MIKE S YOU ARE STILL IN THIS PAGE, Well Well Well I­ guess you did not read my message I will remind you­ again, I know what your problem is and am sorry I have­ to write it, WE CAN ALL SEE THAT YOU MISS NADAL ALOT­ AND THE REASON IS BECAUSE HE IS THE ONLY PLAYER THAT­ CAN MAKE YOU JACKOFF WHILE HE IS STICKING HIS FINGER IN­ HIS PANTS. I have always said Nadal will come back for­ the US Open and give us a nice tournament but for now­ we have Federer playing his very Genius Tennis and so­ go and jackoff while looking at the @#$% of your dog or­ guess what go to a dvd rental and rent past matches of­ Nadal picking his pants SUCKER.

    From stine147, on Wed 1 Jul 8:55PM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    GAYPETERKIN AM AH GUD WEE SCOATASH BYE MIN. OND THA­ ANLY BATTAM AM SHEGGIN AS MUSSES MEECCANN

    From JEEMS, on Wed 1 Jul 8:49PM

  7. mike
    looooooool you know to a specific stage you make­ me laugh by your consistency exactly as Roger makes you­ jealous be his consistency

    From ola azmy, on Wed 1 Jul 8:48PM

  8. No qualms about Haas because Rog should now know how­ dangerous he is.

    From dimeji_stunt, on Wed 1 Jul 8:42PM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    federer is gay federer is gay federer fans are alll­ weirdos and tennis is a pooooooofs sport anyway

    From mike, on Wed 1 Jul 8:38PM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Has anyone noticed that all players that could­ seriously challange Fed have all been on other half of­ draw? Now after he breezes into final, his opponent­ will have run out of gas from playing tougher half.­ This is also something I have noticed in lots of other­ slams Fed has won.

    From x, on Wed 1 Jul 8:36PM

  11. At Grand Slam level, Federer is now 117-0 against­ players ranked outside the Top 5. His last loss to a­ player outside the Top 5 at a Grand Slam championship­ was to No. 30 Gustavo Kuerten at 2004 Roland­ Garros.
    Haas is a great player, a former World No. 2­ but he is unlucky by having to play Federer...
    cheers

    From scourge_werepire, on Wed 1 Jul 8:32PM

  12. No qualms about Haas because Rog should now know how­ dangerous he is.

    From dimeji_stunt, on Wed 1 Jul 8:24PM

  13. No qualms about Haas because Rog should now know how­ dangerous he is.

    From dimeji_stunt, on Wed 1 Jul 8:23PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    dimeji....sorry!....i am a very loyal fan of­ Nadal....yeah i still mourn and i am very sick right­ now....secondary to nadals withdrawal from­ wimby....when Fedex takes the trophy, i know part of­ his speech will be "this win coud have sweeter if­ i took it from nadals hands".....well sorry for­ your idol dimenji....feds 09 wimbly trophy will be a­ bitter one.

    From Ray V, on Wed 1 Jul 8:22PM

  15. No qualms about Haas because Rog should now know how­ dangerous he is.

    From dimeji_stunt, on Wed 1 Jul 8:08PM

  16. No qualms about Haas because Rog should now know how­ dangerous he is.

    From dimeji_stunt, on Wed 1 Jul 8:06PM

  17. People like Doh come to this article and write comments­ like (Roger's game is becoming predictable. He is­ almost­ becoming boring like Pete Sampras was) you need­ to be ashamed of yourself it is statements like this­ that made Pete Sampras to resign when he should have­ stayed and won more Grand Slams. Have you imagined this­ tournament without Federer? No one would have bought­ tickets to come and watch the boring game Murray and­ Novak plays except of cos the british and the scottish­ people. And for you MIKE I know what your problem is­ and am sorry I have to write it, WE CAN ALL SEE THAT­ YOU MISS NADAL ALOT AND THE REASON IS BECAUSE HE IS THE­ ONLY PLAYER THAT CAN MAKE YOU JACKOFF WHILE HE IS­ STICKING HIS FINGER IN HIS PANTS. I have always said­ Nadal will come back for the US Open and give us a nice­ tournament but for now we have Federer playing his very­ Genius Tennis and so go and jackoff while looking at­ the @#$% of your dog or guess what go to a dvd rental­ and rent past matches of Nadal picking his pants­ SUCKER.

    From stine147, on Wed 1 Jul 8:04PM

  18. People like Doh come to this article and write comments­ like (Roger's game is becoming predictable. He is­ almost­ becoming boring like Pete Sampras was) you need­ to be ashamed of yourself it is statements like this­ that made Pete Sampras to resign when he should have­ stayed and won more Grand Slams. Have you imagined this­ tournament without Federer? No one would have bought­ tickets to come and watch the boring game Murray and­ Novak plays except of cos the british and the scottish­ people. And for you MIKE I know what your problem is­ and am sorry I have to write it, WE CAN ALL SEE THAT­ YOU MISS NADAL ALOT AND THE REASON IS BECAUSE HE IS THE­ ONLY PLAYER THAT CAN MAKE YOU JACKOFF WHILE HE IS­ STICKING HIS FINGER IN HIS PANTS. I have always said­ Nadal will come back for the US Open and give us a nice­ tournament but for now we have Federer playing his very­ Genius Tennis and so go and jackoff while looking at­ the @#$% of your dog or guess what go to a dvd rental­ and rent past matches of Nadal picking his pants­ SUCKER.

    From stine147, on Wed 1 Jul 8:04PM

  19. No qualms about Haas because Rog should now how­ dangerous he is.

    From dimeji_stunt, on Wed 1 Jul 8:02PM

  20. No qualms about Haas because Rog should now how­ dangerous he is.

    From dimeji_stunt, on Wed 1 Jul 8:00PM
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