Federer will next face another Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez, who ended the last hope for a homegrown winner in sixth seed Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3. The other semifinal will see rising star Grigor Dimitrov take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who has reached the last four by knocking off world number one Novak Djokovic and twice-champion and eighth seed Andy Murray in Friday’s quarterfinal.
With Ferrer 14-0 against the Swiss maestro there was little concern the fifth seed might spoil the party as the capacity crowd serenaded 17-time grand slam winner Federer with a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ between games during the second set. But there would be no gifts from Ferrer, who made Federer work a little longer and little harder than he wanted. ‘It’s a dream come true to still be playing tennis at this age,’ Federer told the cheering crowd.
With Ferrer 14-0 against the Swiss maestro there was little concern the fifth seed might spoil the party as the capacity crowd serenaded 17-time grand slam winner Federer with a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ between games during the second set. But there would be no gifts from Ferrer, who made Federer work a little longer and little harder than he wanted. ‘It’s a dream come true to still be playing tennis at this age,’ Federer told the cheering crowd.