Roger Federer got another chance at Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a Grand Slam quarter-final — and beat him. Now Novak Djokovic gets another shot at Federer.
Federer reached his eighth consecutive semi-final at the US Open by beating Frenchman Tsonga 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday night in a match delayed about one-and-a-half hours by rain in the first set.
At Wimbledon in late June, Tsonga upset 16-time major champion Federer in the quarter-finals after dropping the first two sets. Until that loss, Federer was unbeaten in 178 matches when taking a two-set lead in a Grand Slam match.
Photo: AFP
Now Federer faces top-seeded Novak Djokovic in the US Open semi-finals, the fifth straight year they will play in New York. Federer holds a 3-1 edge.
In their most recent head-to-head meeting, in this year’s French Open semi-finals, Federer ended Djokovic’s 43-match winning streak.
Djokovic advanced to the semi-finals after Serbian Davis Cup teammate Janko Tipsarevic retired while trailing 7-6 (7/2), 6-7 (3/7), 6-0, 3-0.
Djokovic has reached his sixth consecutive major semi-final and improves to 62 wins out of 64 matches this year. No. 20 Janko Tipsarevic had his left hamstring bandaged by a trainer at 5-0 in the third set, before later deciding he could not finish.
Djokovic needed his own visit from the trainer for treatment on a bloody left big toe after sliding to get to a drop shot in the fourth set’s opening game. They are good friends and met for a long hug at the net when Tipsarevic conceded; he said he told Djokovic he was sorry for stopping.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick and John Isner all won their fourth-round matches to reach the quarter-finals.
Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Sam Stosur and Angelique Kerber filled the four spots in the women’s semi-finals.
As the result of showers earlier this week, the US Tennis Association extended the tournament, delaying the men’s final by 24 hours to Monday. The women’s final was shifted from Saturday night to Sunday.
No. 2-seeded Nadal beat 68th-ranked Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-6 (7/1), 6-1, 6-2 in Arthur Ashe Stadium. No. 4 Murray eliminated 84th-ranked Donald Young of the US 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 in the Grandstand and No. 28 John Isner got past No. 12 Gilles Simon of France 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4) on Court 17.
The 21st-seeded Roddick next faces Nadal with a semi-final berth at stake after completing a rain-delayed 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over fifth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain.
Murray next plays Isner, who reached a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time in his career.
In the women’s quarter-finals, 13-time major champion Williams overcame some shaky serving early to beat No. 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 7-5, 6-1 and improve to 17-0 on hard courts this season.
Seeded only 28th after missing nearly a full year because of health problems, Williams has not dropped a set so far heading into a semi-final against the top-seeded Wozniacki, a 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) winner against No. 10 Andrea Petkovic of Germany on Court 13.
Next up is Wozniacki’s first match against Williams since the 21-year-old Dane became No. 1 _ an opportunity for Wozniacki to prove she belongs atop the rankings despite not having won a major championship.
On the other half of the women’s draw, No. 9 Sam Stosur faces 92nd-ranked Angelique Kerber of Germany in the semi-finals. Kerber upset No. 26 Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, while Stosur easily defeated No. 2 Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3. Zvonareva was the runner-up at the US Open and Wimbledon last year.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB