Roger Federer vs Juan Marin Del Potro Australian Open 2009 Grand Slam

Federer, a three-time champion in Melbourne, completely outplayed the 20-year-old world No 6 to reach his 19th consecutive Major semi, where he will meet American Andy Roddick.

"I didn't expect a result like this. This is not usual," Federer said. "I don't think Juan Martin was at his very best, otherwise it would have been much closer."

Federer was taken to five sets by Tomas Berdych in the previous round but he was untroubled against del Potro, taking the break 3-1 and then the first set by wrong-footing the Argentine on the baseline.

The Swiss was firing and he dropped a sharply-spinning backhand and a classy half-volley for the first break in set two, then faked a drop shot for set points, which he converted with an ace.

The exhibition display turned embarrassing by the third set, as Federer went 4-0 for the loss of just two points and closed out with a service winner in just one hour and 20 minutes.

"When all of a sudden it clicks, it's a nice feeling," Federer said. "I tried out a few things and they all seemed to work. He goes down and I go up, the difference is huge sometimes."

Federer lost in the semi-finals at Melbourne last year and was beaten in the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals by Rafael Nadal, who ended his record 237-week stint as world No 1.

However, the Swiss rescued his season by winning a fifth US Open title to move to 13 Grand Slam victories, one fewer than American Pete Sampras.

Federer will be aiming for his 16th win against Roddick in the semi-finals, after defending champion Novak Djokovic retired complaining of cramp and fatigue.

He has reached the semi-finals at the previous five Australian Opens, winning in 2004, 2006 and 2007, and last failed to reach the quarter-finals in 2003.

Only four other men have won four or more Australian Open titles: Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Jack Crawford and Ken Rosewall.

Del Potro was unbeaten this year, after winning in Auckland, and was appearing in his second successive Grand Slam quarter-final.

The result means Federer cannot lose the world No 2 ranking to Djokovic, who needed to win the title to end his 18-month stay in third place.

Rafael Nadal vs Gilles Simon Australian Open 2009 Grand Slam

Nadal, who now faces an easier route to the final following Andy Murray’s shock defeat against Fernando Verdasco, has yet to drop a set at Melbourne Park.

Nadal dominated the 2007 finalist 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to a last-eight clash with France's Gilles Simon as he seeks his first hard-court Grand Slam win.

The Spaniard, capitalising on Gonzalez's four-hour marathon with Richard Gasquet, raced through the first two sets in less than 40 minutes each, pushing the 13th seed back to keep his giant forehand at bay.

Gonzalez mounted a brief revival in the third but Nadal hit back from 3-0 down and got the decisive break 4-3 with a forehand into the corner.

The Wimbledon and French Open champion, looking fit and revived after an extended off-season, is yet to be challenged after easy wins against Christophe Rochus, Roko Karanusic and Tommy Haas.

His victory also avenges his quarter-final loss two years ago to Gonzalez, whom he also beat in the Beijing Olympic final in August.

Simon booked his meeting with Nadal when ailing friend and fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils withdrew with a wrist injury while losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.

Monfils, the 12th seed, began to struggle during the third set when he started taking his right hand off the racket every time he played a shot.

At 1-4 down he had a medical time-out while a trainer looked at his wrist, but he continued, only to lose the third set 6-1.

He came out for the start of the fourth but decided he couldn't go on and withdrew.

"It happened during the game slowly," Monfils said.

"Then like when I really felt it when it was at 3-1 for Gilles (in the third set).

"I mean, it was maybe 3-0 on my serve, that service game, then I start to feel it like very heavy.

"Then I asked the physio. I was thinking maybe it was in my head. Then I say, I feel it. I ask the physio and finish."

Both players know each other very well and it was apparent they were not playing their normal games.

"I can't win against him if I just play my game as usual, because he really likes to run right, left, right, left, every time," Simon said.

"It's just useless against him. That's why I just wanted to play slower than usual, just to try to attack then, because I wanted to change the pace.

"But, well, we just want to win the match, so I did what I had to do."

Rafael Nadal vs Fernando Gonzalez Australian Open 2009

The Spaniard raced to victory in less than two hours and is the only man to reach the last eight at Melbourne Park without dropping a set.

Gonzalez had staged a remarkable recovery in his previous match against Richard Gasquet to reach the fourth-round, saving a match point and coming from two sets down to win, but the effort had taken an enormous toll.

The 28-year-old Chilean began slowly, dropping his opening service game, and the first set was over in 37 minutes.

Nadal raced through the second but found himself down 3-0 in third. The top seed recovered to reel off five games in a row before serving out victory.

His next opponent in the quarter-finals on Wednesday is Frenchman Gilles Simon, who progressed when compatriot Gael Monfils retired in the fourth set.

Simon had been leading 6-4 2-6 6-1 and ahead 30-0 while serving when Monfils, who had been continuously flexing and shaking his right hand throughout the match, called a halt to proceedings.

Monfils, the 12th seed at Melbourne Park, had received treatment on his right wrist during the third set and then had it strapped before the fourth set began.

France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was in impressive form as he brushed aside the challenge of ninth seed James Blake.

Tsonga, the fifth seed and runner-up last year, thundered a stream of devastating serves towards his opponent giving the American little chance of breaking serve.

And the Frenchman's tidy volleying and, at times, inspirational anticipation of Blake's incursions to the net allowed him sufficient chances to break serve three times.

The first break came for Tsonga in the very first game of the match as a nervous-looking Blake failed to get in to the match from the start; and though the American pushed his opponent hard with some fantastic running throughout the rest of the set he was unable to break back.

The second set followed an identical pattern, with Blake losing his first service game once again and Tsonga unstoppable on his own serve.

Blake looked like he might turn things round in the third set, earning a break early on and racing in to a 5-2 lead as Tsonga's serve went off the boil.

But the American then failed to hold when serving for the set at 5-2, and Tsonga's power dominated the subsequent tie-break to give him the victory to line up a quarter-final encounter with Andy Murray's victor, Fernando Verdasco.

Rafael Nadal beats Christophe Rochus Australian Open 2009

Rafael Nadal has posted the most convincing performance of the Australian Open 2009 men’s tournament so far, crushing Christophe Rochus of Belgium 6-0 6-2 6-2 on Tuesday night.

Belgian Rochus barely had time to flash a wry smile as the world No.1 stormed through the first set of their first meeting in 19 minutes.

While superfluous, the statistics told the story, the Spaniard striking 12 winners to Rochus’ one and winning a total 24 points to the Belgian’s eight.

After what must have felt like an eternity to the Belgian, but what was in reality just 34 minutes, Rochus got his name on the scoreboard in the ninth game of the match, saluting the ecstatic crowd with a wave of his racquet and a huge smile.

Merciful self tucked firmly back in his racquet bag, Nadal romped to a 3-1 lead, extending his advantage by a further set as the 48-minute mark ticked over on the courtside clock.

Rochus took the lead in a set for the first time as the match entered its third stanza. But an intense-looking Nadal wasn’t about to give the world No.75 an inch. He wrapped up proceedings with the loss of just one more game, romping to a second round date with world No.91 Roko Karanusic of Croatia in 77 minutes.

Quick facts

Nadal won 83 points to Rochus’ 40

Nadal won 91 per cent of points on his first serve

Nadal served 10 aces to Rochus' one

Rochus managed seven winners to Nadal’s 47

Can Novak Djokovic Win Australian Open in 2009?

The defending champion ended last year on a high winning the masters cup in Shanghai. If he is playing well he is very capable of retaining his title but faces a tough defence of his title from the other three and possibly others like tsonga and nalbandian that is on form could take him out. Hard Court is Novak's favourite surface and is probably the second best on this surface after Federer when they are all at there best. Novak would rather have nadal in the semis but I think if playing well he could take both nadal out in semis and federer out in the final.

Novak Djokovic at Australian Open 2009

Novak Djokovic Background to Australian Open 2009

In January 2008, he won his first ever Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. After a straight sets win over the then World No. 1 and defending champion Roger Federer in the semifinals, Djokovic won the final in four sets against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He thereby became the first player representing Serbia ever to win a Grand Slam singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached all four Grand Slam semifinals.^[4] He was also the runner-up at the 2007 US Open and has reached six Masters Series finals, winning four of them. He reached the semifinals of the 2007 and 2008 French Opens and the 2007 Wimbledon Championships. He also won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in 2008. He also won his first Tennis Masters Cup in November 2008 by defeating Nikolay Davydenko in the final.