French Open:Roger Federer's 36-set record winning streak in grand slam tournaments was snapped by Tommy Robredo today but that did not stop the Swiss from sweeping into the French Open semi-finals with a 7-5 1-6 6-1 6-2 victory.
The world number one and Australian Open champion had not
dropped a set at a major since losing the second in his four-set
triumph over Andy Roddick in the US Open final last September.
Spanish ninth seed Robredo took the second set with a
forehand crosscourt winner but it was not long before Federer was
once again meting out punishment.
Federer won the next five games in a row and after steaming
towards victory, he sealed his passage to the last four with an
exquisite backhand volley.
He will next face either Russian fourth seed Nikolay
Davydenko or Guillermo Canas, the Argentine who beat Federer in
successive tournaments earlier this season.
In the women's draw world number two Maria Sharapova advanced to
the semi-finals for the first time by brushing aside fellow
20-year-old Russian Anna Chakvetadze 6-3 6-4.
Second seed Sharapova, who feels more at ease on faster
surfaces and had never gone beyond the quarter-finals on four
previous visits to Roland Garros, needed just 78 minutes to beat
her compatriot, seeded ninth.
Chakvetadze, who lost to Sharapova in the quarter-finals of
this year's Australian Open, bowed out by firing a backhand return
wide on the first match point.
Former Wimbledon champion Sharapova, who is hampered by a
sore shoulder and said here she felt like a "cow on ice" on clay,
will face Serbia's Ana Ivanovic for a place in the final.
"I was moving really well today and I tried to defend her
balls", said Sharapova, who has been fighting a string of injuries
and has not won a title this year.
"That's mainly what the key of the match was. I was just
retrieving well. I'm happy to be in the semi-final for the first
time here in Paris."
Sharapova broke her opponent in the sixth game and stayed on
top until taking the set with a forehand winner after 39 minutes.
The pair traded breaks early in the second set, which was
tight until Sharapova managed the telling break in the ninth game
to serve for the match.
The former world number one said she was expecting a
challenge against Ivanovic, who advanced by knocking out last
year's runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova.
"She actually plays pretty similar to Chakvetadze", Sharapova
said of her next opponent. "She hits the ball pretty flat and big
and she's had some good success on clay this season. So it will
definitely be a very tough match."