Federer serves Soderling out of Open in straight sets

When Robin Soderling upset Roger Federer at Roland Garros in June, he stopped the Swiss' streak of 23 straight Grand Slam semifinals.

On Wednesday, Federer started back at one by avenging that loss, serving spectacularly to defeat the Swede, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

"I just feel happy that I played a good match under tough circumstances against a player who's really hard to beat these days, especially on the hard courts," said Federer. "It really favors his game, and he's had a wonderful run the last couple of years. For me, this is obviously a big victory."

In swirling winds, Federer served as if he were playing indoors, hitting 18 aces and 25 more unreturned serves. He won 86 percent of the points when he landed his first service.

"The wind doesn't affect my concentration when I go up to serve," said Federer. "I think I'm also very good at hitting a good serve even when the ball toss is not in the right location. I can still serve to all the different corners with either kick, slice or flat."

Federer was equally efficient on his return, holding the 6-foot-4 Soderling to four aces and converting five of six break points.

Soderling, however, earned the first four break points of the match, including three in Federer's opening service game. The Swiss saved the first with a crosscourt forehand that nipped the back of the baseline, the second with a 124 mph service winner down the tee, and the third thanks to a 120 mph ace out wide.

Down 2-3, Federer fought off a fourth break point by moving Soderling off the court with a wide serve and then placing a forehand in the opposite corner that the fifth-seeded Swede could not retrieve.

After Soderling missed his chances, Federer needed only one break point opportunity to take a 4-3 lead. Sensing that Soderling was on his back foot, Federer stepped inside the baseline to carve a drop shot winner.

The five-time US Open champion would hold his next three service games with 12 consecutive unreturnable first serves. He took a one-set lead in the process.

In the third game of the second set, Federer timed his backhand perfectly to win three straight points, then broke serve when Soderling double-faulted.

But the two-time Roland Garros finalist broke back with a down-the-line backhand passing shot winner, and took a 40-Love lead at 2-2. With three chances to jump ahead 3-2, Soderling committed four unforced errors. Now facing a break point, he watched helplessly as Federer passed him with an inside-out forehand.

Federer consolidated his second break of the set, eventually taking a two-set lead by hitting a 127 mph ace down the service tee.

"I always expect Roger to play well and serve well," said Soderling. "He was brushing the lines a lot of times with his first serve, which is not easy when the weather is like this."

He came close to losing his first set of the tournament when Soderling took a 5-3 third-set lead. But Soderling failed to serve out the set when Federer blocked back a 129 mph serve, drawing a forehand error from the Swede.

Two games later, Federer broke Soderling in similar fashion - successfully returning a 128 mph serve, and then benefitting from a backhand error off the Swede's Head racquet.

The No. 2 seed, playing in his 26th successive Grand Slam quarterfinal, finished Soderling off with back-to-back aces.

"The serve was the biggest key today," said Federer, "because obviously he's very famous for serving extremely accurate, extremely hard, over a long period of time. That's what makes him so hard to beat really.

"That wasn't the case today. He struggled to get the pace, the accuracy going, until midway through the third set when I think he started to hit it a bit better. Then it was almost too late, really."

In the semifinals, Federer will play No. 3 Novak Djokovic for the fourth straight season inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. He defeated the Serb in the 2007 US Open final and the 2008 and 2009 semifinals.