TENNIS:Lets start with the "whoa!" moment. Roger Federer dropped a set 6-1. "Whoa!" The 10-times Grand Slam champion subsequently made amends against Tommy Robredo in yesterday's quarter-final.
But for exactly 34 minutes throughout the second set jaws dropped at Roland Garros as the Spanish player stopped the Fed-Express extending his run of straight set victories in Grand Slams.
For the ninth seed, Robredo, the revenge was swift and exacting, even by Federer's surgical standards.
The Swiss player shook himself, won the third set 6-1 in 20 minutes and the fourth for the match 6-2 in 29 minutes.
Almost as soon as the tournament had begun to worry about one half of their main draw flat-lining on centre court, the match had finished and Federer's name went down to play Nikolay Davydenko in the next round, the Swiss players 12 successive Grand Slam semi-final.
It was an extraordinary recess in an otherwise merciless performance from Federer, a sort of bum note in his aria. But the way he turned it around was as breathlessly impressive as the 6-1 drubbing was uncharacteristically ugly, although, it has always been part of Federer's armoury to be able to work things out on court, while the match is in progress.
"I'm not looking for excuses," he said.
"It was windy . . . I didn't play well in that set. That's for sure. I was hitting too flat instead of looping the ball a bit more and using the wind. I was actually playing wrong at that point in time.
"The third set I was just hoping to get a good start. And once I got that I was on a roll again. But I was struggling, that's true and he played well in that set."
Federer already owns the all-time record for successive appearances in Major semi-finals and if he beats Davydenko it will set a record for successive appearances in Major finals.
He has already equalled the record of seven, set by Jack Crawford, who played in the 1933 Australian Open final and continued on until the 1934 Wimbledon final.
Federer has appeared in every final since 2005 Wimbledon.
That streak also gives him the record for consecutive weeks at number one. He has been ranked as the best player in the world since February 2004, or, for 175 weeks, overtaking Jimmy Connors mark of 160 straight weeks in February of this year.
Needless to say Davydenko, who beat Guillermo Canas 7-5, 6-4, 6-4, knows all of this. While the Russian is ranked as the fourth best player in the world, he clearly meets an opponent who is proving to be the most dominant force in the history of the game.
Still, Federer rates the Russian's game and some informed opinion believes he could be the party pooper in Paris and deprive Roland Garros of a Rafael Nadal and Federer final.
Davydenko is going to put a lot of pressure on, hit the ball at the top of the bounce, Federer was told at the end of yesterday's press conference.
"I'm ready," he smiled.
It will be the Davydenko's second Roland Garros semi-final in three years. and, like Federer, has dropped just one set in the tournament as he bids to reach his first Major final.
Davydenko looked the fresher player in his quarter-final and he was able to dominate the majority of his rallies with Canas. "I thought Canas would be strong, but during the match, I saw he was tired and was losing power. I saw Canas running left then right and was getting more and more tired. At the same time, I was feeling great."
The final two quarter-finals are scheduled for today, with reigning champion Rafael Nadal taking on fellow Mallorcan Carlos Moya and Novak Djokovic - the sixth seed - meeting unseeded Russian Igor Andreev.
French Open Roland Garros
Men's Singles
Quarter-finals: (1) Roger Federer (Swi) bt (9) Tommy Robredo (Spa) 7-5 1-6 6-1 6-2, (4) Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt (19) Guillermo Canas (Arg) 7-5 6-4 6-4.
Women's Singles
Quarter-finals: (7) Ana Ivanovic (Ser) bt (3) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) 6-0 3-6 6-1, (4) Jelena Jankovic (Ser) bt (6) Nicole Vaidisova (Cze) 6-3 7-5, (2) Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt (9) Anna Chakvetadze (Rus) 6-3 6-4, (1) Justine Henin (Bel) bt (8) Serena Williams (USA) 6-4 6-3.
Women's Doubles
Quarter-finals: Alicia Molik (Aus) and Mara Santangelo (Ita) bt (5) Yung-Jan Chan (Tpe) and Chia-Jung Chuang (Tpe) 6-3 4-6 6-1, (2) Cara Black (Zim) and Liezel Huber (Rsa) bt Janette Husarova (Svk) and Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) 4-6 6-1 6-1, (1) Lisa Raymond (USA) and Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt (8) Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spa) and Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spa) 6-1 6-2, 7) Katarina Srebotnik (Slo) and Ai Sugiyama (Jpn) bt (16) Maria Elena Camerin (Ita) and Gisela Dulko (Arg) 4-6 7-5 6-3.
Men's Doubles
Quarter-finals: Fabrice Santoro (Fra) and Nenad Zimonjic (Ser) bt Igor Kunitsyn (Rus) and Dmitry Tursunov (Rus) 6-4 7-5, Mark Knowles (Bah) and Daniel Nestor (Can) bt Michael Kohlmann (Ger) and Rainer Schuettler (Ger) 6-4 6-4, (9) Lukas Dlouhy (Cze) and Pavel Vizner (Cze) bt (1) Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA) 5-7 6-4 6-4, Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) and Radek Stepanek (Cze) bt Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) and Max Mirnyi (Blr) 3-6 6-1 7-6 (8-6).
Mixed Doubles
Quarter-finals: Tian Tian Sun (Chn) and Julian Knowle (Aut) bt Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) and Leander Paes (Ind) 4-6 6-4 10-7, (8) Nathalie Dechy (Fra) and Andy Ram (Isr) bt (2) Liezel Huber (Rsa) and Kevin Ullyett (Zim) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.
