Federer reaches U.S. Open semifinals

Federer went just past midnight before finally eliminating Soderling 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (8-6). The world No. 1 player survived a set point in the fourth before winning the match to set up a semifinal meeting with Novak Djokovic.

Soderling backed up what has been a breakthrough year for him, during which he was a finalist at the French Open. He had appeared in 22 grand slam events prior to that without having made it past the third round.

Djokovic won his quarterfinal match Wednesday over Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7-2), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2.

The other quarterfinals will be played Thursday. Fernando Gonzalez will meet Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro will face Marin Cilic, conqueror of second-seeded Andy Murray.

Federer is trying for his sixth straight U.S. Open title after having won six of the last seven Wimbledon tournaments. His 15 grand slam triumphs is an all-time record and his 22 straight appearances in a major semifinal is a record that might never be broken.

The next best showing in that category has been the 10 straight semifinals reached by Ivan Lendl in the 1980s.

Djokovic was able to coast to a win in the fourth set of his match when Verdasco began to suffer from an abdominal strain. He was twice visited by a trainer during the latter stages of the match.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.