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Switzerland's Roger Federer - Source: Reuters -
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World Number 2 Roger Federer turned on a tennis master class to cruise into his 19th consecutive grand slam semi-final at the Australian Open on Tuesday night.
The Swiss great, chasing a record-equalling 14th grand slam title, completely demolished 20-year-old Argentinian eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro 6-3 6-0 6-0 in just 80 minutes.
Del Potro, the 198cm world Number 9, is regarded as one of the rising stars of men's tennis, having stormed up the rankings from Number 65 midway through last year.
But he had a nightmare match on Tuesday night, cast in the role of mouse to Federer's cat, as the former world Number 1 toyed with his opponent before producing a swift kill.
The Argentinian youngster looked outclassed and helpless to exert any pressure on his opponent, as Federer playfully pulled off an audacious array of shots from all parts of the court.
The match became increasingly one-sided as Federer's confidence soared and a disheartened del Potro ran out of ideas to try to stem the tide.
Federer gave up just eight points in the second set and six in the third as he reeled off the last 13 games of the match.
It was a welcome return to form and dominance for the three-time Australian Open champion, after he had to come back from two sets to love down in his previous match against Czech Tomas Berdych.
He will meet American Andy Roddick in the semi-final, after Roddick's opponent, defending champion Novak Djokovic, retired from their quarter-final earlier in the day.
Federer would have been happy to see Roddick make it through, rather than Djokovic, as he boasts a 15-2 head-to-head record over the American seventh seed.
He will have particularly fond memories of his last Australian Open meeting with Roddick, when he gave up just six games in winning their semi-final two years ago.
In contrast, Djokovic knocked Federer out in a semi-final last year and holds a 3-2 head-to-head advantage over the Swiss.
Federer said he was proud to continue his long run of making it to the last four in the majors.
"I'm happy to be in the semis, it's a great record, I'm very proud of it but it doesn't earn me any grand slam wins yet," he said.
"I played great tennis, I didn't expect to win like this, this is unusual, for me it's a fabulous effort and I hope I can keep it up."
He was also happy to click into top gear, after his struggles against Berdych.
"It was close I thought in the first set, maybe one break and then all of a sudden you run away with it," he said.
"Because you're leading you can take more chances whereas in the last match I had to struggle to find the rhythm, tonight it came by itself, tonight it all seemed to click."
Federer was looking forward to playing Roddick.
"Playing Andy it's always nice, we know each other a long time," he said.
"We've had some big matches over the years, in the Wimbledon finals, the US Open finals and here in the semis.
"He brings some great energy to the court with his big serve and he's a character."
Del Potro struggled to explain how the match got away from him so badly.
"I just had a bad day and he's Roger Federer, if you don't be good, you lose," he said.
"I don't know, I don't have a good day, I lose, but he do very good everything."
