Federer trounces Tsonga, battles Djokovic in semis

NEW YORK — Roger Federer got another chance at Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a Grand Slam quarterfinal — and beat him. Now Novak Djokovic gets another shot at Federer.

Federer reached his eighth consecutive semifinal at the U.S. Open by beating Frenchman Tsonga 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday night in a match delayed about 1 1/2 hours by rain in the first set.

At Wimbledon in late June, Tsonga upset 16-time major champion Federer in the quarterfinals after dropping the first two sets. Until that loss, Federer was unbeaten in 178 matches when taking a two-set lead in a Grand Slam match.

Now Federer faces top-seeded Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open semifinals, the fifth straight year they will play in New York. Federer holds a 3-1 edge.

In their most recent head-to-head meeting, in this year’s French Open semifinals, Federer ended Djokovic’s 43-match winning streak.

Djokovic advanced to the semifinals after Serbian Davis Cup teammate Janko Tipsarevic retired while trailing 7-6 (2), 6-7 (3), 6-0, 3-0.

Djokovic has reached his sixth consecutive major semifinal and improves to 62 wins from 64 matches in 2011.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick and John Isner all won their fourth-round matches to reach the quarterfinals.

SERENA VS WOZNIACKI IN SEMIS

Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Sam Stosur and Angelique Kerber filled the four spots in the women’s semifinals.

No. 2-seeded Nadal beat 68th-ranked Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-6 (1), 6-1, 6-2 in Arthur Ashe Stadium. No. 4 Murray eliminated 84th-ranked Donald Young of the United States 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 in the Grandstand, and No. 28 John Isner got past No. 12 Gilles Simon of France 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) on Court 17.

The 21st-seeded Roddick next faces Nadal with a semifinal berth at stake after completing a rain-delayed 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over fifth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain.

Murray next plays Isner, who reached the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career.

In the women’s quarterfinals, 13-time major champion Williams overcame some shaky serving early to beat No. 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 7-5, 6-1 and improve to 17-0 on hard courts this season.

The top-seeded Wozniacki was.”

On the other half of the women’s draw, No. 9 Sam Stosur will play 92nd-ranked Angelique Kerber of Germany in the semifinals. Kerber upset No. 26 Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, while Stosur easily defeated No. 2 Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3. Zvonareva was the runner-up at the U.S. Open and Wimbledon last year.

NADAL WANTS PLAYERS TO HAVE MORE POWER

On Roddick’s side of the draw, one of the men’s finalists faced the prospect of playing four best-of-five-set matches in four days, back-to-back-to-back-to-back, something Nadal called “not fair.” Now the men will get Sunday off.

Nadal also raised a bigger concern: Players should have more say about how Grand Slam events are run.

“The problem is we don’t have enough power in these kind of tournaments,” Nadal said. “That’s what have to change very soon.”

Others, including Murray and Stosur, echoed that sentiment, saying commercial interests outweigh player interests in tennis, and Roddick weighed in on the idea of forming a union.

“The fact is that the players feel frustrated. The players feel they’re not protected enough, I guess,” Djokovic said. “So this is maybe a turning point for all of us.”