Jelena Jankovic from Serbia returns the ball to Virginie Razzano from France, during their quarter-final match at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, yesterday. Jankovic won 7-5, 6-2. - AP MASON, Ohio (AP):
Roger Federer overcame a momentum-changing second set yesterday, recovering to beat Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.
Federer will face Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals. Hewitt coasted through a 6-2, 6-4 win over a heat-sapped Carlos Moya earlier in the day.
For a few minutes, it appeared that a tournament full of upsets might have the most stunning one yet.
The 21-year-old Almagro got the crowd behind him during the second set, when he matched Federer shot-for-shot, moved him around the court and won the only break point of the set.
"I had one really bad game and it cost me the set," Federer said. "It happens. I'm happy that it doesn't happen every match."
It was only the second set he'd ever won off Federer, who has a 5-0 career against the Spaniard. It was the only one he would win on this day.
Federer quickly regained control, breaking Almagro's serve to go up 2-0 in the third set. After Federer held serve to go up 4-1, Almagro tossed his racket away in frustration, then got his left calf massaged during the break.
Nothing in Almagro's past suggested he could give Federer such a tough time. He hasn't played well on hard courts - he's 4-17 on the surface - and had only beaten him one set in their previous four matches.
This time, he took him to the limit.
In the earlier quarter-final, Hewitt looked much fresher than Moya at the end of an oppressively hot week. Temperatures on the court reached 43 degrees Celsius (110 Fahrenheit) on Thursday, when the 30-year-old Moya prevailed in a three-set match to reach the quarter-finals.
"I'm not 20 years old anymore, so I felt it a little bit," Moya said.
The 26-year-old Australian had a lot more energy in his game, which has been sharp lately.
"On any given day, I feel I'm capable of beating anybody in the game," said Hewitt, currently ranked No. 19 in the world. "The last few months, my body has felt very good. That makes it easier to go out with confidence and play the way I want to play."
Moya served to open the match, fell behind 0-40 and was broken, setting the tone. Hewitt had only two unforced errors and made 64 per cent of his first serves during a 30-minute opening set.
He broke Moya again to open the second set, leaving the Spaniard shuffling around the court with his head down. Trailing 3-0, he took an injury timeout to have a bothersome blister on his right foot treated. The crowd then got behind Moya, who rallied briefly before Hewitt finished him off.
"He's playing pretty well," said Moya, who beat Hewitt in the 2002 Cincinnati final.
"Even being 100 percent, it would have been tough for me to beat him. He's hitting solid again. Not many unforced errors. I think he's ready to be back in the top 10."
His next challenge is trying to beat Federer, something he hasn't done in four years. Federer has won their last 10 matches, including a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the quarter-finals in Montreal last week.
"I didn't think of it as nine in a row before last week because we hadn't played in two years," Federer said. "In two years, a lot happens. From my point of view, it's 1-0."
Asked if there's a formula for beating Federer, Hewitt smiled.
"No one has really been able to figure it out so far," he said. "He's obviously a great all-court player. He's got all the shots and he's got a great head on his shoulders as well. He doesn't have too many off-days, either, where he gives you opportunities. So if you do get those opportunities, you really have to take them against him."
