Roger Federer needed a set to get unwound
before unleashing his clay game to flatten Fernando Gonzalez for the 11th time
in a dozen meetings on his way into the semi-finals of the 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
French Open on Wednesday.
The Swiss top seed looked slightly adrift as he lost serve an uncharacteristic
three times in a dramatic opening set, with Chile's Gonzalez looking to have
found the measure of a man he beat for the only time in their last meeting six
months ago in Shanghai.
"There was a lot of pressure, he was hitting the corners and I didn't know
exactly how I needed to play him," said Federer, beaten in the last two
Roland Garros finals by Rafael Nadal.
"It's never easy against him, but I played a good match."
The honeymoon for Gonzalez soon ended, with his 12-time Grand Slam champion
opponent cranking up his level and running away to victory in a shade over two
hours.
Federer broke five times and struck more than 60 winners as he left Gonzalez
smashing his racket in frustration at one point on the way out of the event.
The victory was a rerun of the 2007 Australian Open final and marked only the
second time that the South American had won an opening set in the series.
Federer will play on Friday against the winner from Spanish fifth seed David
Ferrer and flamboyant Gael Monfils, final Frenchman in the home field, dpa reported.
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