Federer, Nadal reach semis; Roddick falls in Wimbledon quarters

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Reigning four-time champion Roger Federer and last year's runner-up Rafael Nadal charged into the semifinals, while two-time finalist Andy Roddick lost to talented Frenchman Richard Gasquet in Friday's quarterfinal action at Wimbledon.
The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer needed two days to get past 20th-seeded former top-ranked star Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 on the famed Centre Court. The match was tied at 5-5 in the first set here on Thursday when rain halted play for the day.
Federer prevailed in 2 hours, 16 minutes with the help of 15 aces among his 51 winners and five service breaks. The 27-year-old Ferrero recorded 32 fewer winners and only broke Federer's serve on two occasions.
The high-flying Swiss, now 36-4 lifetime at the All England Club, wound up dropping his first set of the fortnight against the Spanish Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion.
"OK, a set is lost, but a match isn't lost," Federer said.
This marks Federer's first result here in a week, as the combination of a scheduled day off, inclement weather and a withdrawal by his scheduled fourth- round opponent, Tommy Haas, kept him idle here for five days.
"It was hard for me," said Federer. "I had many days off. I'm just really happy I came through it and I'm back in the rhythm now."
Federer's grass-court winning streak is now up to 52, including a 32-match string here at the All England Club. The super Swiss already owns 10 Grand Slam titles and is trying to become only the second man in the Open Era to capture five straight Wimbledon championships. Swedish icon Bjorn Borg turned the trick here from 1976-80.
The 25-year-old Federer has appeared in a record eight straight Grand Slam finals and landed in the semifinals in his last 13 majors. He beat Nadal in last year's Wimbledon finale and lost to the Spaniard in the last two French Open title bouts.
Federer, who's also the reigning Australian and U.S. Open champ, will meet the surprising Gasquet in Saturday's semifinals.
A second-seeded Nadal, the reigning three-time French Open champion, reached his second straight Wimbledon semi by dousing seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, 6-2 on Centre Court on Day 11 here.
Nadal moved on in 2 hours, 7 minutes with the help of 30 unforced errors by his fellow 21-year-old Berdych. The powerful Spaniard also piled up four key breaks, compared to only one for his 6-foot-5 counterpart.
Unlike the well-rested Federer, Nadal played for a fifth straight day here on Friday.
Nadal's semifinal opponent will be rapidly-rising Serbian star Novak Djokovic, who lost to Nadal in last month's French Open semis. The Spaniard is 4-1 lifetime against the Serb, including a 3-1 record this season.
A 12th-seeded Gasquet came all the way back to stun the third-seeded Roddick 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3), 8-6 on Court 1. Roddick was up two sets and 4-2 in the third when Gasquet mounted an unlikely comeback.
Roddick won his first 14 sets at this fortnight before Gasquet turned their round-of-eight match around on Friday.
Gasquet stunned Roddick in 3 hours, 34 minutes. The Frenchman actually struck more aces than the massive-serving American (23-22) and piled up 33 more winners (93-60) than Roddick.
The 24-year-old Roddick is a former world No. 1 and captured his lone Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open in 2003. He lost to Federer in the 2004 and 2005 Wimbledon finals.
Gasquet, who had never won a five-set match before Friday, will meet Federer for a seventh time, with the supreme Swiss holding a 5-1 all-time advantage. Federer beat Gasquet in the first round at Wimbledon a year ago and has won five straight matches in their series.
The 21-year-old Gasquet will perform in his first-ever major semi on Saturday.
In another marathon quarterfinal on Friday, a fourth-seeded Djokovic landed in his second semi in the last two majors by outlasting 10th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (11-9), 6-7 (3-7), 4-6, 7-5 on Court 1. A fatigued Djokovic needed five hours to sneak past the 2006 Wimbledon semifinalist Baghdatis. The victory marked the fourth-longest match in modern Wimbledon history. And the longest Wimbledon singles match ever played on one day lasted only five minutes longer than this Djokovic-Baghdatis epic.
Djokovic recorded a huge service break to grab a 6-5 lead in the fifth set and closed out a game Baghdatis by holding his quality serve in the 12th game of the stanza. The Serb fired 12 aces among his 58 winners on Day 11. The Cypriot struck 16 more winners than Djokovic, but also piled up 10 more unforced errors (60-50) in the disappointing setback.
A weary Djokovic played 9 hours, 12 minutes of tennis over the last two days here. He required 4 hours, 12 minutes to stave off former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt here on Thursday and required some on-court treatment from a tour trainer on Friday.