Federer rallies, gains semifinals

NEW YORK—Roger Federer saved two match points to defeat Gael Monfils, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2, and reach his ninth US Open semifinal Thursday, keeping alive his dream of a sixth title.

The 33-year-old Swiss second seed, bidding to become the oldest winner of a Grand Slam title in more than 40 years, was staring down the barrel of a demoralizing exit when French 20th seed Monfils had two match points in the 10th game of the fourth set.

But once they were saved, the lifeblood was suddenly sucked out of the flamboyant but unpredictable 28-year-old Frenchman whose notoriously fickle stamina failed him in a one-sided fifth set.

The victory was Federer’s 26th in 27 night-time matches in New York and put him just one win away from a career 600 victories on hard courts, a landmark he can reach if he defeats Marin Cilic to make the final.

Croatian 14th seed Cilic toppled sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), earlier to reach his first US Open semifinal.

“Gael played great tennis but even when I was two sets down I knew the finish line was still far away for him,” said Federer after the three-hour 20-minute duel put him in his first semifinal since 2011.

Cilic, who missed last year’s US Open as he sat out a doping ban, pounded 19 aces past Berdych, recovering an early break in the third to force the tiebreaker.

“It was very tricky with the conditions,” Cilic said.  “Very gusty, for both of us.”     Cilic has matched his best Grand Slam performance—a semifinal run at Australia in 2010.

The other semifinal will pit world No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Kei Nishikori, who is bidding to become the first-ever Japanese to play in the singles final of a Grand Slam.

Nishikori outlasted Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka in five sets in the quarterfinals to become the first Japanese man in 81 years to reach the last four of a major tournament. AFP