London: Five-times champion Roger Federer took the sting out of Croatian Ivo Karlovic's venomous serve to win 6-3 7-5 7-6 and book his place in a 21st straight grand slam semi-final at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Karlovic's thunderous serve had not been broken at this year's Wimbledon but the Swiss maestro nullified the 2.08m player's key weapon in the fourth game of their quarter-final and the Croat 22nd seed never looked like recovering.
"You expect a tough scoreline all the time, it's not easy to break him we know that so I am happy to have broken him twice and won the match," Federer said in a courtside interview.
"I love the record I have, reaching so many grand slam semis in a row. Twenty one is quite a number and it shows how consistent I have been, how injury-free I have been to keep it up for such a long time."
Karlovic had served 137 aces in the tournament before Wednesday and the signs looked ominous when his first serve of the day went whistling past Federer's ears to take his tally to 138.
But Federer got a sighter in the first game and a blistering blocked backhand return in Karlovic's second service game helped the Swiss to the break which he greeted with huge: "Come on!"
A single break was again enough for Federer to take the second set and though the Croatian took the third to a tiebreak the Swiss clinched it 7-3 with a forehand crosscourt winner after an hour and 42 minutes.
He will play Germany's Tommy Haas, seeded 24, for a place in Sunday's final.
Haas topples Djokovic
Haas reached his first Wimbledon semi-final at the age of 31 on Wednesday, outclassing a tentative Novak Djokovic 7-5, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3.
The Serbian fourth seed, looking nervous from the start and rarely taking the initiative, managed to salvage one set but looked a pale shadow of the scintillating player who won last year's Australian Open.
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The pressure of expectation now seems to weigh heavy on the 22-year-old's shoulders. His self-belief at a low ebb, Djokovic showed little aggression against a confident Haas.
"It's unbelievable. I have no words for it. I am playing some of my best tennis right now," said an overjoyed Haas after recording the biggest shock of the men's tournament so far.
The German always looked in control in the first set. He held his serve to love three times and broke Djokovic in the 11th game to ratchet up the pressure at just the right time.
In an engrossing second set tiebreak, Djokovic had three set points to draw level but Haas fought back from 6-3 down to take a comfortable lead.
"That was huge and maybe the key to success today. I said to myself -- Wake Up," said Haas, a former world number two whose career has been blighted by injury.
Djokovic landed the third set with one decisive break of serve but was never able to dominate.
Haas, who beat Djokovic in the Halle final last month, raced into a 5-2 lead in the fourth set with supporters chanting "Let's Go Tommy".
The adoration was rewarded. Haas maintained his nerve when serving for the match and reached the Wimbledon semi-final at his 11th attempt.
Haas's progress to a semi-final clash with five-times champion Roger Federer could not have been more laborious.
He needed two days to win both his first and third round matches. Both were suspended because of bad light and he saved two match points against Marin Cilic.
But he did have one stroke of luck -- his second round opponent, Frenchman Michael Llodra, retired injured after colliding with the umpire's chair and one of the ballgirls.
But he now has a mountain to climb. Federer leads 9-2 in their previous clashes but Haas did take him to five sets at the French Open.
"I am going to give it my best shot. There is not much this guy cannot do," Haas said. "I am going to try and go out there and see if I can annoy him a little bit and go from there."
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