Federer looks to avoid early exit curse........

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are already out of the French Open. On Monday, Roger Federer will contest his 4th round match with the hopes of avoiding a similar fate.

The good news for world No. 2 Roger Federer is that his round of 16 opponent is tour veteran Tommy Haas. The German has not been at his best for some time now. Coming into Roland Garros Haas’ best result was a quarterfinal showing at the clay court tournament in Houston, where he lost to countryman Bjorn Phau.

Haas’ ranking has dipped to 63 in the world, low enough that he was forced to qualify for the Madrid Masters event 2 weeks ago. Worse still is that the German has won just 2 matches against Federer in 10 tries – and his last victory was back in 2002.

Federer has been in excellent form throughout the first week of the French Open. Except for a sketchy patch in the second round against Jose Acasuso, the Swiss man has impressed. The question that will loom large is how Federer will handle the added pressure of knowing that his main rival for the Roland Garros title is no longer around.

Federer advances in tricky third round match...

Roger Federer dropped another set on his way to a four-set victory over France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Federer played much better than he did in his second round match against Jose Acasuso. Still, the Swiss man dropped the first set to an inspired Paul-Henri Mathieu before closing the victory in four.

Mathieu came out of the gate on fire. The Frenchman is a notoriously streaky player who has a habit of losing matches in which he has taken an early lead – Saturday’s match was no different. Federer did not play particularly poorly in the first set, but Mathieu’s return was doing damage to the Swiss man. With his usual aces coming back at him, Federer dropped serve to give Mathieu the early lead.

Federer came back with a vengeance in the second set. He found his range on the forehand side, so that he pummeled Mathieu with winners and donated very few unforced errors (3) to level the match at 2 sets each.

The third set found better tennis from Mathieu, as the level of the match raised considerably. Federer threw in another 3 unforced errors, but the Frenchman fought harder and served better on break points. He managed to stave off 5 of 6 break points, but Federer pocketed the all-important break of serve at the 4-4 game.

The fourth set looked like a lock for Federer. He broke in Mathieu’s opening service game on a long error. Mathieu did not give up hope, though. On Federer’s serve at 1-2, Mathieu absolutely crushed the ball to set up 0-40 and earn 3 points to win the break back. The Swiss man saved the first two, but sent a ball long on the third to level the set at 2-2.

Federer was not done putting the pressure on Mathieu. On the Frenchman’s service game at 3-3, Federer offered up a beautiful backhand pass to secure another break of serve. Mathieu held for 4-5, but Federer made no mistake serving out the match. He will take on Germany’s Tommy Haas in the round of 16.

Federer and Mathieu battle for round of 16 berth

After a close call on Wednesday against Jose Acasuso, Roger Federer is back to take on Paul-Henri Mathieu of France in the third round.

World No. 2 Roger Federer has posted wins over opponent Paul-Henri Mathieu once on every surface, the most recent coming on the hard courts of Toronto back in 2006. Little has changed since their last meeting except that Federer is no longer the top player in the world. In fact, in August of 2006, Mathieu was ranked 36 in the world, just one place off his current ranking of 35.

Mathieu is a notoriously patchy player. He is capable of producing good wins. He has beaten Richard Gasquet, David Ferrer (on clay) and Gael Monfils already in 2009. But he is equally capable of crashing out of the Australian Open to 127 ranked Amer Delic.

The Frenchman will have the benefit of playing a somewhat wobbly Roger Federer in Friday’s match. The Swiss man was in trouble in his second round match against Jose Acasuso, before he pulled out the 4 set victory. Still, Mathieu is not the type of player that can typically give Federer problems.

Mathieu may be able to keep up with Federer for a set or two, but the Swiss should prevail in the end.

Federer stages epic comeback to advance

Roger Federer found himself in trouble for much of his second round match, but the Swiss maestro battled his way to a four-set victory.

For the better part of three sets, Jose Acasuso played the match of his life. In the opening set, the Argentine earned himself a whopping five break points in the fourth game of the match, but he was unable to convert. As it turned out, Federer was just delaying the inevitable. At 3-2, Acasuso finally secured the break of serve. Unfortunately for the Argentine, he played a sloppy game on his own serve to gift the break back.

Acasuso took the lead again in the tiebreak with a double mini-break. Federer fought back from 3-6 down to eventually take the set on a spectacular drop-shot.

Perhaps Federer expected Acasuso to cave a bit in the second set, but the Argentine came back just as strong as he had been in the first. In a complete surprise, it was Federer who showed signs of caving to the pressure. By the tail end of the set, the Swiss man was shanking backhands meters long and missing easy forehands. Acasuso secured the set-winning break at 5-5.

Federer played shockingly poor tennis for the first half of the third set. Acasuso earned a 5-1 lead on the strength of ridiculous unforced errors from the world No. 2. Serving for the set at 5-2, the Argentine tightened up and was broken. At that point, the momentum in the match completely turned. Acasuso tweaked his ankle chasing a drop-shot and he was not the same thereafter.

Federer was close to losing this match in straight sets, but as great champions so often do, he found a way to win in four. He awaits the winner of Paul-Henri Mathieu and Pablo Andujar in the third round.

Federer says he thought he had match under control but is happy to get the win.

A VICTORY IN STRAIGHT SETS TO START OFF WITH

Roger swept into the second round of the French Open today by defeating Spain's Alberto Martin 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

"I started a little slowly," he said afterwards. "He plays very far behind the baseline so I had to make adjustments. Then I started to serve well. That allowed me to play more freely and I was able to dominate."

It was a bit of a rough start for Roger when he was broken in his first serve but he later levelled to 2-2. Roger then went on to break Martin for a second time in the 10th game to take the set. From then on our champ was clearly in control, dominating during his serve and breaking his opponent regularly.

Roger eased to victory in an hour and 43 minutes, setting up a second-round meeting with either José Acasuso or Santiago Ventura.

Message To the Fans..

ROGER FEDERER:
" I am now in paris and getting ready for the French Open. This city is amazing! I am playing an practice exo tomorrow against Stan Wawrinka at the Paris Country Club. The match is at 1:30pm and I believe they will show it on Eurosport. I have enjoyed reading many of your kind wishes after the win in Madrid on Sunday and I really do appreciate all the support. Thanks! "

Fedex aims to stop Nadal's Grand Slam progress in Paris..

New Madrid champion Roger Federer now speaks as a voice of authority when he vows to do his best to prevent rival Rafael Nadal from taking another step closer to a possible calendar-year Grand Slam.

The next stop in the battleground is Roland Garros starting next Sunday, when Australian Open winner Nadal will be bidding for his fifth consecutive French Open title. Should he claim it, the Spaniard would be halfway home to the sweep which has not been done since Rod Laver in 1969.

Federer heads to Paris for Sunday's French Open start with a huge confidence boost after his straight-set defeat of Nadal in Madrid.

"When a guy wins the Australian Open and his his better surface is clay then there is a big chance that he might go two for two Slams. I came very close a few times and it´s not the easiest thing to do," said the 13-time Grand Slam champion.

"I said a couple of weeks ago that he definitely has a chance. But there are guys who don't want to allow him to do that - and I am the first.

"I have a great record at Wimbledon and the US Open and I have my dreams at the French Open so I have some say there hopefully."

diamond microdermabrasion

Some incredible Madrid Open Pictures

Roger Wins Madrid title..

Roger produced a terrific display to beat Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4 and claim the Madrid Open title today!

It is Roger's first title of the season and only the second time he has defeated Nadal on the red dirt in 10 meetings - ending a run of 33 consecutive wins on clay for the left-hander in the process. He has now defeated his foe for the first time in five clashes, on clay and in Nadal’s native Spain.

Roger disguised his shots better than ever, using his forehand to great effect, and the look of relief of his face when he fired an ace down the middle to fend off a late surge from his opponent said all.

Roger claimed a break of serve in each set, denying him a hat-trick of Masters Series titles after the world number one won in Monte Carlo and Rome. Roger broke the deadlock in the ninth game of the first set and clinched it in the next game when serving out to love on his first set point.

He then led 4-2 in the second and although Nadal had two break points to level at 5-5he sent first a forehand and then a backhand just wide of the tramlines. Roger then sent down an ace to clinch the win that is sure to give him a lot of satisfaction.

Efficient Federer happy to get on with the job on court

Roger Federer only just tolerates the snail's pace set by some of his major rivals once they step onto the clay.

The high-drama Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic semifinal at the Madrid Open was the perfect example of what the efficient Swiss finds most annoying about some facets of the game.

"Those two guys take their time as well, so, it wasn't really four hours", he said of the struggle by Nadal with all three sets approaching the 90-minute mark for a total time on court of 4:02.

By contrast, the speedy Federer got his job done against Juan Del Potro in one hour and 20 minutes - about the length of a set between the other pair.

Federer just doesn't waste time or motion in the heat of battle. No excess toweling off, no multiple ball bounces, and no waiting to serve - he just gets on with the job.

"I don't say that to take anything away from how they played because it was phenomenal and fantastic to watch".

"But they do take their time and it was the best-of-three-set match, it wasn't the best of five. We've all practiced hard and then we've come back the next day and done it all over again".

Federer vs. Nadal as Del Potro goes down

Roger Federer has no trouble in setting up a dream title match against Rafael Nadal at the Masters Series Madrid. He defeats Juan Martin Del Potro in the semifinals on Saturday night.


The stage is set for Federer-Nadal XX.

And the buildup is not unlike that of Federer-Nadal XIX. Their 19th encounter came in the final of this year's Australain Open after Rafael Nadal labored through an epic semifinal against Fernando Verdasco while Roger Federer cruised in both his quarterfinal and semifinal clashes.

This time at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Masters, Nadal reached the final by outlasting Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(9) in another classic after saving three match points in the third-set tiebreaker. At four hours and two minutes, it was the longest three-set match in Masters Series history.

Federer then came out and spent less than a third of that time on the court, dispatching Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3, 6-4 in the second--and far less memorable--semifinal of the day. The world No. 2 needed just one hour and 21 minutes to set up the 20th career showdown between Federer and Nadal.

Del Potro had chances to take a quick advantage, but he squandered four break point in the early stages of the opening set. The missed opportunities came back to haunt him when he played his first poor service game at 3-4. Federer broke at love in the midst of a streak that saw him win eight of nine points. The break gave Federer a 5-3 lead and he promptly served out the first set in routine fashion. Madrid's No. 2 seed never refused to allow his opponent to dictate play, as Del Potro had done all night long against Murray in the quarterfinals. A more aggressive Federer blasted 19 winners to 14 unforced errors in set one while Del Potro struck just three winners against nine mistakes.

The second frame of play progressed in similar fashion. Federer, however, was even more dominant on serve and he never faced a break point while winning 18 of 20 first-serve points. A break midway through the set was enough for Federer to cruise into the final. He almost finished off the match with an insurance break for good measure, but Del Potro came back for 0-30 down at 3-5, forcing his opponent to close things out on serve. Federer did so in impressive fashion, ending the proceedings with 10 more winners than errors (34 to 24). Del Potro was never really competitive in this one--nor close to as good as he was against Murray a day earlier--but still finished with a respectable ratio of 14 winners to 17 errors.

Federer is just 6-13 lifetime against arch-rival Nadal. Ten of their 19 meetings have been contested on clay, and Nadal is a dominant 9-1 in those encounters. Federer's lone dirt victory over the Spaniard came in the final of the 2007 Masters Series Hamburg, where Federer beat Nadal 6-0 in the third set. They have also met in the past three French Open finals.

Federer meets Del Potro in Madrid semis

Juan Martin Del Potro will be looking for his first win over Roger Federer when the two players square off at the Masters Series Madrid on Saturday. A spot in the title match is at stake.

Juan Martin Del Potro crashed what would have been a "Big 4" semifinal party in Madrid, and Roger Federer certainly isn't complaining.

Instead of going up against world No. 3 Andy Murray, against whom he is 2-6, Federer will take a 4-0 head-to-head record against Del Potro into their semifinal clash on Saturday afternoon at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. Del Potro has never even taken a set off Federer (in 10 total sets), nor has he extended him to a tiebreaker. Federer most recently destroyed Del Potro 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals of this year's Australian Open. This Madrid clash, however, will be their first on a clay court.

The surface as well as Federer's relative malaise of late should give Del Potro his best chance of finally getting on the scoreboard in their head-to-head series. Federer has been struggling in 2009, to the extent that he is still in search of his first title of the year. Part of the reason for his trophy-less streak is that the world No. 2 appeared in just six tournaments prior to Madrid; since a season-opening event in Doha he has played exclusively in Grand Slams (the Australian Open) and Masters Series tournaments. Federer failed to win any of them and heads into this semifinal showdown with a 24-6 match record on the season. Needless to say, that is an impressive mark by most players' standards, but not by those of Roger Federer. He is 7-2 on clay after losing in the Monte-Carlo third round to fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka and falling to Novak Djokovic in the Rome semifinals. So far in Madrid he has dispatched Robin Soderling, James Blake, and Andy Roddick.

If Federer is experiencing a bit of a decline, Del Potro is going in the opposite direction at this point in his young career. The 20-year-old Argentine exploded into ATP prominence midway through 2008, and dating back to last summer--when he won four straight tournaments--he has been playing incredible tennis. Del Potro is keeping up a torrid pace this year and has reached at least the quarterfinals in seven of eight tournaments so far in 2009. The world No. 5 started the season with a title in Auckland, made it to the quarterfinals at the Aussie Open, the quarterfinals in Indian Wells, and the semifinals in Miami, where he stunned Rafael Nadal. Seemingly still in search of a breakout on clay, Del Potro has done just that this week in Madrid. After losing to Ivan Ljubicic in his Monte-Carlo opener and bowing out with little fight to Novak Djokovic in the Rome quarterfinals, Madrid's No. 5 seed is back in business. He ousted tough opponents Tomas Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka in rounds two and three, respectively, before upsetting Andy Murray 7-6(4), 6-3 in Friday's quarterfinals.

Del Potro's awesome level of play against Murray--which allowed him to run his opponent all over the court with huge groundstrokes--is good enough to beat Federer right now. A big difference, however, is that Federer won't be playing the same kind of game that Murray did against against Del Potro. Letting Del Potro dictate play is not going to work this week; but that won't make difference to Federer, who won't let the underdog Argentine dictate--at least not consistently. Del Potro can definitely take a set if he keeps this up, but Federer's variety will probably be too much in the end. Furthermore, their past history has to give the Swiss a massive mental edge. Federer in three is the pick.

Federer defeats Roddick, into Madrid semis

Roger Federer takes out Andy Roddick in three sets at the Masters Series Madrid on Friday afternoon. He awaits either Andy Murray or Juan Martin Del Potro in the semifinals.

Roger Federer resumed his dominance of Andy Roddick with a 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-1 victory in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open on Thursday afternoon. After losing to Roddick at last year's Masters Series Miami, Federer has now won three straight against the American. But this one was no cakewalk; Federer needed two hours and 11 minutes to set up a semifinal clash with either Andy Murray or Juan Martin Del Potro.

Playing on his worst surface against his least favorite opponent, Roddick made it clear right from the start that he was not going to go away easily. Madrid's No. 6 seed broke for an immediate 2-0 lead, capitalizing on some major struggles on serve for his opponent. Federer, however, got back on serve midway through the set with some stellar returning and he sustained the momentum throughout the remainder of the set. A second break of serve allowed Federer to serve out the opening frame of play at 6-5, and he did just that in routine fashion.

While breaks were not exactly easy to come by in set one, they were non-existent in the second due to impressive serving by both men. Federer improved his serving immensely (76 percent in the set) and lost only six points in six service games without facing a break point. The lone instance of difficulty came when Roddick survived a crucial service game at 4-4 that lasted of nine minutes. Federer had three break chances, but Roddick thwarted all of them--including one with a lunging volley that was followed by Federer shanking a backhand after lining up what should have been a routine passing shot. Three service holds later, a tiebreaker was necessary to decide things.

A Roddick error gave Federer an immediate mini-break and the Swiss promptly won both of his service points--the second with an ace courtesy of a bad bounce--for a 3-0 lead. Roddick stayed in it by taking care of his next two points on serve and he then got on level terms at 3-3 with a huge backhand return that his opponent could not handle. A massive forehand winner gave Roddick a sudden mini-break advantage at 4-3, but he gave it back at 5-3 with a forehand in the net. Federer evened the score at 5-5 with an ace, but double-faulted to give the underdog a chance to close out the 'breaker on his racket. Roddick did it right away with a huge serve-forehand combination. It was a high-quality set that Roddick won, as he fired 13 winners to 11 errors and withstood 20 winners (to 13 errors) by Federer.

Despite having momentum in had, Roddick managed to win just a single point in each of the first two games of the third set. He surrendered serve in surprisingly easy fashion at 0-1, going down 0-40. The world No. 6 saved one break point with a winning backhand, but threw the game away by sending a forehand approach well long. Roddick hand a chance to get back on serve at 1-3, but he missed his lone break chance when he could not return a big Federer forehand. From there, Roddick all but disappeared. He won only a single point in a dismal service game at 1-4 and went down 40-0, three match points, with Federer serving for a place in the semifinals. Federer squandered all three of those match points, but capitalized on his fourth opportunity when Roddick sent a backhand past the baseline.

Federer struck seven more winners than errors (43 to 36) in improving to a dominant 18-2 in the head-to-head series with Roddick. Looking ahead, Federer is a perfect 4-0 against Del Potro but is just 2-6 against Murray. He has lost four in-a-row to the third-ranked Scot.

Federer takes on Roddick in Madrid quarters

Roger Federer and Andy Roddick will square off at the Masters Series Madrid on Friday afternoon. A spot in the semifinals is at stake.

Roger Federer and Andy Roddick will be doing battle for the 20th time in their careers when they meet in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open on Friday afternoon. Federer is dominanting the well-documented head-to-head series 17-2, but not a single one of those previous encounters came on clay. Roddick won their fifth career clash at the Masters Series Canada back in 2003 then lost 11 straight before getting over the Federer hump at last season's Masters Series Miami. Federer has won two straight over Roddick heading into Madrid, having won this year at the Australian Open and in three sets in Miami.

The fact that Federer and Roddick have never squared off on clay can only be attributed to Roddick's failure to advance in tournaments on the slow stuff. Although it is by far his worst surface, Roddick is actually 69-21 for his career on dirt. Of course, most of those wins came on U.S. clay courts earlier in his career, including his first career ATP title in Atlanta.

The sixth-seeded American has been struggling immensely on clay of late, and he did not venture onto the surface all season prior to Madrid; in part because he doesn't want to and in part because he recently got married. Surface aside, Roddick has been playing very well in 2009 under new coach Larry Stefanki.
He owns an impressive 27-5 record and has reached at least the quarterfinals in all six of his tournament appearances. His results include a runner-up finish in Doha, the semifinals at the Australian Open, the semifinals in San Jose, a title in Memphis, the semifinals at the Masters Series Indian Wells, and the quarterfinals at the Masters Series Miami.

After a first-round bye this week, Roddick saved two match points en route to a three-set win over Tommy Haas and then got a walkover into the quarterfinals when Nikolay Davydenko withdrew due to injury.

While Federer is no clay-court specialist, he obviously has the edge of Roddick in terms of surface. He does not, however, have the edge in current form. Federer has been struggling in 2009 and he is--incredibly--in search of his first title of the year. Part of the reason for his trophy-less streak is that the world No. 2 appeared in just six tournaments prior to Madrid; since a season-opening event in Doha he has played exclusively in Grand Slams (the Australian Open) and Masters Series tournaments. Federer failed to win any of them and heads into this quarterfinal showdown with a 23-6 match record on the season.

Of course that is an impressive mark by most players' standards, but not for Roger Federer. He is 6-2 on clay after losing in the Monte-Carlo third round to fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka and falling to Novak Djokovic in the Rome semifinals. He kicked off his Madrid campaign with a straight-set win over Robin Soderling on Tuesday and eased past James Blake on Thursday.

Although it happened over a year ago, Roddick's win over Federer at the 2008 Masters Series Miami is still critical for Roddick's confidence. Knowing he is at least capable of beating Federer is key, but actually going out and beating him is a whole different matter. Roddick has to serve extremely well on Friday because he cannot hang with his opponent from the back of the court; certainly not on clay. This will be over in hurry if Roddick is not putting in well over half of his first serves. Even if he does serve in close to flawless fashion, Federer should take this in straight sets.

Federer crushes Blake to reach Madrid quarters

Roger Federer breezes by James Blake in the third round of the Masters Series Madrid on Thursday afternoon. Federer will take on either Andy Roddick or Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals.

Roger Federer needed just one hour and one minute to dispatch James Blake in routine 6-2, 6-4 fashion in the third round of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open on Thursday afternoon. With the victory, Federer extends his dominant head-to-head record over Blake to 9-1, although he avenged a loss in their most recent encounter at last summer's Beijing Olympics.

Federer made it clear right from the start that he was not going to lose to Blake twice in-a-row. He earned a break in the opening game of the match and that alone would have been enough to take the first despite despite relatively poor serving by Federer. For good measure, however, the world No. 2 added an insurance break at 4-2 before serving out the set with ease. Federer won just 40 percent of his second-serves but saved one break point in holding all four of his service games.

Madrid's No. 2 started out especially slow in terms of his first-serve percentage, but he improved as the first set progressed and that continued throughout the second frame of play. Federer put in 64 percent of his first deliveries and lost a mere three points in his last five service games. Just as he did in the previous set, the Swiss broke for an immediate 1-0 lead and never looked back. He made the advantage stand up with ease the rest of the way, finishing off the proceedings with a love service hold at 5-4--and his fourth ace on match point.

Federer played a clean match, firing more winners than errors (20 to 19). He also capitalized on an off day from Blake, who seemed to be improving on clay over the past week. The 16th-ranked American finished runner-up in Estoril on Sunday and had defeated Victor Hanescu and Ivo Karlovic in Madrid, but on this day he was never competitive while spraying 22 errors and hitting just 12 winners. Federer awaits either Andy Roddick or Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals.

Federer keeps his focus on tennis with baby approaching

Roger Federer has been able to contain his excitement over the approaching birth of his first child and concentrate on his pressing clay court tennis duties.

With new wife Mirka Vavrinec preparing for the expected late-summer birth, the No. 2 is keeping his focus on this week's Madrid Masters and the looming date at Roland Garros.

"Suddenly, the nine months starts ticking but things have gone back to normal," said the Swiss after winning his opening match in the Spanish capital.

"But now I'm preparing for Paris, preparing in my private life that things are going to go smoothly for Mirka and that she is feeling great. Honestly, I don't think it's a big change right now.

The change will come but at the moment I'm still feeling normal."

Federer ousts Soderling in Madrid opener

Roger Federer begins his Masters Series Madrid campaign with a straight-set win over Robin Soderling on Tuesday night. Next up for Federer is either James Blake or Ivo Karlovic. It got a little bit more difficult as the match progressed, but Roger Federer cruised past Robin Soderling 6-1, 7-5 in the second round of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Masters on Wednesday night.

Federer needed just one hour and nine minutes to win his tournament opener, including just 20 minutes in the first frame of play.Federer was absolutely dominant in the opening set. He won the first five games of the match before Soderling finally held serve to get on the scoreboard at 1-5. Federer won 11 of 12 first-serve points and lost a mere five points in four service games.

Soderling was as hopeless on serve as Federer was in control. The world No. 23 won just one of seven second-serve points and was broken twice, losing the set in a brisk 20 minutes.Soderling slowly but surely became competitive, as both players took care of serve with relative ease en route to 2-2 in the second. The underdog Swede then led 40-0 before squandering three straight points. But he won the next two points to hold for 3-2 and that seemed to increase his confidence.

Soderling earned a 30-30 chance in Federer's next service game and Federer handed him the break with a forehand error followed by a double-fault. The second-ranked Swiss, however, got it right back with a backhand pass on his second break-point opportunity at 2-4.

Soderling lost serve again at 5-5, squandering a trio of game points before throwing it away with two consecutive forehand errors. Federer quickly closed out the match with a love service game and his 11th ace on match point.Federer finished with a solid ratio of 24 winners to 19 unforced errors. Soderling improved after a dismal first set, but still struck just 14 winners to 35 mistakes. Madrid's No. 2 seed awaits either James Blake, who beat him at the 2008 Summer Olympics, or 6'10'' Croat Ivo Karlovic.

FedeX hopes to lift his game with a few days in Switzerland

A few days on the practise courts of Switzerland will be Roger Federer's prescription for tightening his game as he tried to lift in time for the Madrid Masters, final big event before the start of Roland Garros later this month. The No. 2 suffered particular disappointment as he let a rain break interrupt a winning run, going out in three sets to Novak Djokovic in the Rome semi-finals.

But it's full speed ahead for the Swiss, seeking his first title since Basel in October.

"I'd like to go back to Switzerland, I've been on the road again for a few weeks here. I want to make sure I get early enough to Madrid and get used to the altitude. Just make sure I'm in good shape over there (in Spain)".

The distant rival to Rafael Nadal will have to win a title soon if he's to keep Djokovic from nipping at the No. 2 ATP spot, with the Serb on a roll.Federer must concentrate on finishing the job on court after letting recent leads slip.

"It doesn't take me long to get over losses, but in the moment itself it's just not really fun," he said of his Foro Italico letdown. "It's just these kind of matches I feel like I should have won here and I end up losing them, so it's just not a good feeling"."It's just a matter of getting back in shape and, you know, playing good hopefully in Madrid again".

Federer clinches spot in Rome semifinals

Roger Federer continues to impress in Rome this week, securing a berth in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia on Friday.

The World No. 2 moves on to face defending champion Novak Djokovic. Federer, yet to drop a set all week, did not face a break point during his quarterfinal-round contest with 21-year-old German qualifier Mischa Zverev.

The two players held comfortably until late in the first set, Federer earning a set point at 5-4 on the Zverev serve. The Swiss failed to convert, botching an easy forehand pass. Zverev fought off a second set point, striking a forehand volley winner into the open court.The highly-contested set ended in a tie-break, Federer falling behind 0-2 at the start.

The World No. 2, gaining momentum from the back of the court, quickly regrouped to win six of the next 7 points. Federer raced to 6-3, putting away a forehand pass on his third set point opportunity.Federer wasted no time in the second set, notching a 2-0, break lead on a crafty topspin lob from the baseline.

The two-time finalist snagged an insurance break on another forehand pass, extending his lead to 3-0. Federer served for a place in the semfinals at 5-1, hitting an unreturnable serve on match point No. 3. The Swiss turned in 36 winners on the day.

The World No. 2 finished the contest winning 86% of his first-service points, 68% of his second. Federer will meet World No. 3 and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals on Saturday.

Fedex delivers in Rome..

Roger Federer avenged his 2008 loss in the quarterfinals, knocking out Radek Stepanek in 68 minutes on Wednesday. The World No. 2 is through to the last eight at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Roger Federer enjoyed an easy afternoon on Wednesday, notching a comprehensive, round of 16 defeat over the 16th seed Radek Stepanek, 6-4, 6-1. The Swiss, shaking off two break points in his opening service game, broke the Czech serve to snag an early 2-0 lead. An error prone Stepanek, striking 14 unforced errors in the first set, had no answer for the Federer offensive attack. The world No. 2 played a poor game serving for the set at 5-3, handing Stepanek his first break of the match. Federer recovered quickly in the following game, earning two set points on some aggressive play from the baseline. The two-time finalist clinched the 6-4 set on a perfectly executed chip backhand, drawing a forehand volley error from Stepanek.Federer wasted no time taking a 2-0 lead in the second set, cashing in on a forehand launched long by the Czech. An erratic Stepanek, who hit 23 unforced errors in the match, failed to break the momentum of Rome's No. 2 seed. The 30-year-old won just five of 22 points on the return of serve, eventually falling behind 0-5 in the set. Federer reached 5-1 easily, clocking an ace on match point.The Swiss finished the day with 19 winners, converting four of seven break-point opportunities. He extends his lead to 8-2 in the head-to-head series with Stepanek.Federer will face 21-year-old German qualifier Mischa Zverev in the quarterfinal round.