Federer brushes Monfils aside to close in on glory

Roger Federer took another step towards tennis immortality as he swept aside Parisian Gael Monfils 7-6(6) 6-2 6-4 in Wednesday’s quarter-final. The Swiss thus moves to within two matches of equalling Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slams and becoming the first man since Andre Agassi in 1999 to capture all four majors. Parisian-born Monfils traded blows with the Swiss maestro during a hotly contested first set but was left trailing in Federer’s wake as the Swiss No2 seed upped the ante once he had saved a set point in the opening tie-break. Eagerly awaited rematch The tie was a re-match of last year’s semi-final which Federer took in four sets, but the circumstances were different this year. A finalist here at the past three editions, Roger suddenly finds himself freed of the shackles of Nadal and with a direct route to his first French Open title and the career Grand Slam. This was also a different Gael Monfils. The 2009 version came into the tournament with patella tendinitis and no practice on European clay, but that did not prevent him from blasting his way into the last eight, defeating No24 seed Juergen Melzer and No6 Andy Roddick on the way. Monfils had also been whipping the crowd up into more and more of a frenzy as the tournament wore on, particularly in his straight sets win over Roddick in the twilight on Monday evening. Tight first set An intriguing battle was in prospect therefore, and that proved to be the case throughout the first set. Both men served well, and the first two games stretched to 12 minutes, going to numerous deuces before Federer then Monfils held. Neither player was in trouble on service until the 11th game, when the Frenchman just failed to clip the baseline on break point. The opener went to a tie-break then, with the opening exchanges some of the best tennis seen all fortnight. Federer came to the net and converted what was inches away from being a wonderful passing shot from Monfils. The No11 seed then served big, Federer returned even bigger, Monfils laid down a drop, Federer rushed in, slid and clipped a passing shot winner for a mini-break. Monfils got back on serve and had a set point at 5-6, but Federer held his nerve splendidly. The boot was on the other foot at 7-6 and here, the Swiss maestro showed all his years of big point experience to dominate a second serve, chip and charge and conclude the set with a crisp volley. No contest And that unfortunately was where the tie ended as a contest. Monfils was on auto-pilot throughout a second set that he lost 6-2, taking a comfort break and calling for the trainer due to stomach cramps. He summoned up all his reserves of courage for a final fling, but there was a certain sense of inevitability already. Monfils saved a break point at 4-4, but Federer was not to be denied, breaking and holding to love to put an emphatic exclamation mark on a very solid performance. Monfils will no doubt be back next year to wow his home crowd, while the Swiss No2 seed is now a mere two matches away from removing any doubt as to his place in the pantheon of tennis greats. "When I walk on the streets or drive in the transportation 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 the car," said Federer of the weight of expectation on his shoulders since four-time champion Rafael Nadal was eliminated. "They even get out at the red lights and want me to sign an autograph or take a picture. It's quite incredible this last couple of weeks. It just shows me that everybody is watching the French Open here, and it's great to get the support. Once out in the stadium it's amazing. We don't have a grand Slam in Switzerland, but I definitely feel at home in the Grand Slams, and especially here." This is Federer's 20th consecutive appearance in a Grand Slam semi-final - since he lost here in 2004 to Gustavo Kuerten in the third round in fact. "It's the ‘in a row’ that seems incredible to me,” the delighted No2 seed said. “20 semi-finals is incredible, but 20 in a row? It's even more incredible, even to me. Sometimes I lose sight of it because of all the tournaments and matches I play all along the year. You lose sight of these records, but that's probably the one I'm most proud of. That's huge.” A Sampras-equalling 14th Slam and becoming only the sixth man (after Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi) to win all four majors in their career would be even more huge…