Wed Jun 4 13:56:30 2008

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Federer, Monfils land in French Open semis

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Paris, France (Sports Network) - Two-time runner-up Roger Federer secured a berth in his fourth straight French Open semifinal by beating Chilean Fernando Gonzalez on Wednesday. The super Swiss will face surprising unseeded Frenchman Gael Monfils here on Friday.

The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer started off slow against the 24th-seeded Gonzalez, but charged back for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 decision in just over two hours on Court Lenglen.

Gonzalez was hot and Federer was cold in the opening set, as the Chilean fired 15 winners, while Federer piled up 12 of his 29 unforced errors and had his typically solid serve broken three out of four times. The Swiss superstar, however, righted the ship in the second stanza and ultimately cruised to victory, with the help of 11 aces and five breaks.

"I was really under pressure in the first set," Federer said. "I felt uncomfortable. I was missing a lot of shots, and he defended well. After that it was a good match."

The amazing Federer and Gonzalez met in a rematch of the 2007 Aussie Open final, which was also won by the 12-time major titlist from Switzerland. Federer is now 11-1 lifetime against "Gonzo," including a victory here in Paris three years ago.

The reigning five-time Wimbledon and four-time U.S. Open champion Federer, who will play in a record 16th straight major semifinal, still needs the French Open to complete a coveted career Grand Slam.

Up next for the 26-year-old Federer will be the 6-foot-4 Monfils, who upended fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Court Chatrier. The speedy Ferrer was last year's Tennis Masters Cup runner-up to Federer and reached the semifinals at the 2007 U.S. Open.

The former junior standout Monfils will appear in his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal after advancing in 2 hours, 27 minutes. The heavy crowd favorite ripped 10 aces and piled up six breaks against a frustrated Ferrer.

Federer is 3-0 all-time against the 21-year-old Monfils, including a 2-0 mark this season.

Friday's other semi will pit three-time defending Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal against Australian Open titlist Novak Djokovic.

The high-flying Nadal has yet to drop a set at this 2008 fortnight and has not been pushed in any of his five matches, but that could change against the talented Djokovic on Friday.

Nadal has never lost in the main draw here, as he's a perfect 26-0 at Roland Garros. He's 113-2 on his beloved red clay overall since 2005, including victories over Federer in the last two French Open finals.

The 22-year-old Nadal is 7-3 lifetime against the 21-year-old Djokovic, including 2-0 without dropping a set here at Roland Garros and a 4-0 overall mark on clay. The Spaniard beat the Serb in the quarterfinals here in 2006 and topped him in the semis last year.

The gritty Nadal and smooth Djokovic have split a pair of matches this season, with the Serb taking a semifinal matchup at Indian Wells and Nadal claiming a semifinal victory on clay in Hamburg.

Djokovic will play in his fifth straight Grand Slam semifinal. He captured the Aussie Open back in January and lost to Federer in last year's U.S. Open finale.