Roddick blows a Gasquet

Men's Singles: What a day like yesterday offered was an opportunity to finally pluck a winning name from the final eight, other than Roger Federer. Few could do it.

Even when Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero had the temerity to take a set in their quarter-final exchange, the four-times champion reacted as he has always done since last losing at Wimbledon, against Mario Ancic in 2002.

Richard Gasquet made the most deliberate lunge forward, coming back from two sets down to beat America's Andy Roddick 4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 8-6. He meets Federer next.

What chance has he got?

"Considering it is 8pm and Roger has played for an hour and a half in a week, I'll go out on a limb and say he's the fresher player," said a deeply disappointed Roddick. "I'll go out on a limb again and say Roger is mentally fresher too. I don't know if that bodes well for Richard."

While the weather had afforded the champion a chance to swing his racquet on Thursday, it denied him the opportunity to complete a set.

Just 10 competitive games in one week are not normally how Grand Slams are won. Then again Federer is not chasing a normal title. He's looking for his fifth in succession, to place him alongside Bjorn Borg.

As ever, Federer's measure was his manner of winning, as was that of Gasquet. Imperious, detached, remorseless and aesthetically pleasing are all terms that apply to his style, but his four-set victory here was merely tidy and professional, even a little workmanlike.

While that is like calling Shakespeare's sonnet Not From The Stars Do I My Judgement Pluck workmanlike because it is not his best, Federer did miss a few.

To be brutally honest, however, Ferrero was really here as an accidental tourist. He's a dedicated clay-court operator, and though the Centre Court grass has slowed over the years, the Spaniard had never been to the quarter-final in seven previous championships.

Once a world number one, he is now ranked 18 and had lost to Federer in their last six meetings.

"I knew the danger of my first match after the long break," said the champion afterwards.

"Of course it could have been an advantage and a disadvantage. Now that I'm through I think it's definitely a bit of an advantage."

A tiebreak in the first set gave Federer the start he had wished for after the players exchanged service games.

From there confidence and serving experience held Ferrero to just two points and Federer claimed first blood.

In the second he faltered and never really threatened the Ferrero serve at all before dropping his own once. Ferrero held strong and levelled 6-3.

By then the engine oil had heated in the Swiss motor, the exhausts had blown clear and after 19 minutes Federer had pocketed the third set 6-1.

The fourth then came 6-3 with the match after two service breaks.

Federer joins Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and his next opponent, Gasquet, in what is the defending champion's 13th consecutive Grand Slam semi-final.

His eye is now on the French player, who has been threatening to break through over the past few years.

"I had nothing to lose after the first two sets," said Gasquet. "I played with no pressure, a great backhand, and I served better. It was incredible for me to play that way and win this match. Of course she (Bartoli) won Justine Henin, I won Roddick. That's incredible for French tennis."

But nor will Federer have failed to notice how Nadal has improved and how surprisingly easy he softened the cough of the world number seven, Tomas Berdych, in conditions the Czech player condemned after falling 7-6, 6-4, 6-2.

"I don't like these conditions. It's not good for tennis at all," complained Berdych. "It depends on the player who can play these conditions best. It's not me."

Nadal faces a semi-final against Djokovic, who can promise the French Open champion a comprehensive examination. Not only did the 20-year-old Serb defeat Marco Baghdatis over five sets but he had to regain his wits to do so.

Having gone 2-0 up on tiebreaks, he capitulated for almost two hours as Baghdatis came back to level the match 2-2. Fears in Belgrade were the momentum would carry the Greek Cypriot through for the second successive year. And given he had already beaten David Nalbandian and Nikolay Davydenko, the apprehension was well founded.

Djokovic had played a four-and-a-half-hour match on Thursday and in the fifth yesterday was moving into five-hour territory. Critically, he broke the Baghdatis serve in the 11th game and held steady for the match. Two ultra-distance rounds over two days will surely put him at a disadvantage today against Nadal.

"Nine-and-a-half hours in two days," said Djokovic. "If you're human, your fitness is not right, that's for sure."

Maybe it's fitting then that the Karaoke King's effort on YouTube was I Will Survive.