ROGER FEDERER will face Novak Djokovic in a blockbuster semi-final at the French Open after seeing off Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7/3) at Roland Garros yesterday.
The 2009 champion is the only man to have reached the last four without dropping a set and he never really looked in any trouble yesterday, although it was far from a vintage performance.
Between them, Federer and Monfils hit nearly 100 unforced errors, with the ninth seed contributing 53 of them, but it was the 41 winners from Federer that proved the difference.
The world number three said: “I’m very happy. I’m feeling very good and I’m obviously proud about this achievement. It’s definitely always nice to be in the semi-finals of a grand slam.
“The beginning was difficult. I had two double-faults. I had many problems at the beginning due to the wind on my service games. I’m really happy because I managed to find my game. It was not just playing against Gael, it was playing against the conditions. So I’m relieved and satisfied with my performance today.”
Monfils blamed his serve for his failure to put pressure on Federer, saying: “It was not easy with the wind to start with. He missed a lot of shots. My big weak point today was that I couldn’t serve at all. It was a serious handicap. With more serves I would have been more dangerous.”
