Federer fights through into 19th consecutive semi-final

By Bill Scott Aug 12, 2006, 11:26 GMT

Toronto - Untouchable Roger Federer picked up where he left off four years ago, resuming his dominance over Xavier Malisse with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 victory Friday landing him in the semi- finals at the Toronto Masters.

The world number 1 reached his 19th straight semi with his 52nd consecutive hardcourt win. The last time the Swiss failed to get to the final four was at Monte Carlo in 2005, when he was beaten in the quarters by Rafael Nadal.

But the match, lasting nearly two and a half hours, was a struggle for the Swiss, who needed to establish order in the final set. Federer lost serve three times against Malisse.

The Swiss won his sixth match in succession against the Belgian, who started their series with a lone win in 1999.

'It was a thriller, a very exciting match. There were difficult conditions, but the level was very good,' said Federer. 'I'm happy to be through, I'm in the semi-finals and still have a shot at the final.'

Federer will play Saturday's against Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, who defeated Argentine Jose Acasuso 6-1, 7-5.

Federer is showing only the slightest signs of rust in his first event since winning a fourth straight Wimbledon title over Spain's Nadal, who was upset Thursday by Czech Tomas Berdych.

But Berdych's celebrations didn't last long, as Richard Gasquet brought him down 6-4, 6-1 on Friday.

'I served well and I returned well,' said the 51st-ranked French winner. 'That's important because he is really aggressive. That was the key of the match.'

Gasquet was playing his third quarter-final of the season and improved to a flawless 3-0 after wins at Nottingham and Gstaad, where he eventually claimed tournament titles.

He will line in Saturday's semi-final against Briton Andy Murray, who came through a contest littered with breaks-of-serve as he stopped Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-7 (0-7), 6-3.

'Jarkko's a tricky lefty, he fights until the end of every point,' said Murray of a contest featuring 32 break points, 13 of them converted.

Murray takes command of the pre-Grand Slam US Open summer series through his win, though he failed twice to serve out victory before earning a final break of the Finn to end it.

The success in two hours, 27 minutes, marked his fifth win over a Top 15 player in 2006. Murray will move into the Top 25 on Monday as his career starts to take flight under guidance from new American coach Brad Gilbert.

But there remains room for improvement as the 19-year-old failed for the fourth consecutive match this week to complete a clean victory.

'I played a great match until I was serving for it in the second set. I was nervous in the tiebreak, I'm just glad to win,' Murray said after losing that second-set decider to love.

Murray has won 17 of his last 21 matches, improving to 18-8 on hardcourts.