It is so long since Roger Federer failed to make the last four of a Grand Slam tournament that it is hard to imagine that wooden rackets and white balls were not being used at the time. The 27-year-old Swiss extended his astonishing record when he reached his 20th Grand Slam semi-final in succession by beating Gaël Monfils 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 at the French Open here yesterday. Juan Martin del Potro, who outpowered Tommy Robredo, will be the man with the unenviable task tomorrow of trying to stop Federer reaching his 19th final in the last 24 majors.
The 2004 French Open, when he lost to Gustavo Kuerten in the third round, is the last occasion when Federer failed to make the final stages of a Grand Slam event. In the last year he may have lost his cherished Wimbledon title and his world No 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal, not to mention the aura of invincibility that once surrounded him, but nobody can come close to matching his level of consistency at the highest level.
Federer, who said the 20 consecutive semi-finals was the record of which he is proudest, is well aware of his place in history and will know that this weekend offers an outstanding chance to become only the sixth man to win all four Grand Slam titles after Fred Perry, Donald Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi, who was the last to achieve the feat when he won here 10 years ago.
If he wins his next two matches Federer will also equal Pete Sampras's all-time total of 14 Grand Slam titles, after which he would face the delicious prospect of breaking the record at Wimbledon next month.
Federer will surely never have a better chance of getting his hands on the last jewel missing from his Grand Slam crown. Nadal, the man who has beaten him in three of the last four Grand Slam finals and the last three finals here, has already gone home, as have Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, who together have beaten him six times out of six since last September.
Del Potro, who beat Robredo 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the last four of a Grand Slam event for the first time, has lost all five of his previous meetings with Federer, while Fernando Gonzalez and Robin Soderling, who play in tomorrow's other semi-final, stand at 1-12 and 0-9 respectively in their head-to-head records against the former world No 1.
Many felt that Monfils might be the man to derail the Federer express. The 22-year-old Frenchman, who lost in four tight sets to the Swiss in last year's semi-finals, had looked in outstanding form here and destroyed Andy Roddick in straight sets in the previous round.
The world No 10 is the game's outstanding athlete. He has a big serve and groundstrokes to match and covers the ground quicker than anyone. With his long arms and legs apparently made of rubber, he can seem all but impossible to pass on clay. Federer had looked far from invincible in his previous matches and admitted afterwards that he had been nervous at the start, but this was his best performance of the fortnight. His forehand was back in top order and he played with superbly controlled aggression.
At the end of a tight opening set Monfils had one set point, but Federer took the tie-break 8-6 with some typically attacking play. Monfils, angry with himself for not taking his chances, played a poor second set and called for the trainer and doctor to treat an upset stomach before the start of the third. The Frenchman rallied, but Federer made the decisive break at 4-4.
The crowd had seemed uncertain whom to support. Monfils, a Frenchman who was born in this city, may have drawn marginally bigger cheers during the match, but at the end the public rose to acclaim Federer. Parisians love his style and class and have taken him to their hearts in a way that they have never embraced Nadal.
Federer said the support this year had been greater than ever. "When I walk on the streets or go for dinner, everybody is saying: 'This is your year. You've got to do it.' They're screaming from their scooters and out of their cars. They even get out at the red lights and want me to sign an autograph or take a picture. It's been quite incredible the last couple of weeks."
Just as in the men's competition, the women's event will crown a new champion. Serena Williams, the winner in 2002, was beaten 7-6, 5-7, 7-5 by Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals.
Kuznetsova is the only player with a clay-court victory this year over Dinara Safina, the world No 1, who faces Dominika Cibulkova in today's semi-finals. Kuznetsova will play Australia's Sam Stosur, who beat Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-3.
20 tournaments
Successive Grand Slam events in which Federer has reached at least the semis, dating back to the 2004 French Open.
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