Roger Federer had two opponents to beat on Centre Court. The spectre of the back trouble that caused him distraction and spasms when last he stepped out here at Wimbledon – he triumphed over that with no noticeable difficulty. The other opponent was Mikhail Youzhny, the Russian, hoping to make it past the quarter-final stage for the first time in his career. Beating him was even easier.
It took Federer just three comfortably claimed sets to breeze through to the semi-finals in 91 minutes; and the Russian might have guessed that his stay on a blustery Centre Court would not be a long one after he lost his first service game, having battled to save four break points and succumbing to the fifth.
The first set went by 6-1 in 28 minutes without Federer ever having to rise above the perfunctory and with Youzhny's backhand haemorrhaging errors.
The second, 6-2, disappeared, again over 28 brisk minutes, with Federer imperious. Youzhny's serve was broken in the first game of the set and again in the seventh game to give Federer a 5-2 lead.
Only in the third set did Youzhny, seeded 26, raise his game to anything like the level he might have dreamed of overnight, but by then the six-times Wimbledon champion had gone up a gear.
Watched by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and tennis royalty in the form of Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, Federer saved his most focused tennis for the home straight, firing off a battery of crosscourt forehand winners and running his hapless opponent from tramline to tramline.
Called upon to save yet another break point, Youzhny turned to the royal box for advice, saying "tell me what I have to do". At 2-1, Youzhny secured three break points against Federer's serve but the No3 seed, now mixing sweet drives with slices and drop shots, made them vanish as fast as they had appeared.
The crowd was generous to the Russian as he saved three match points on his serve in the penultimate game but, by then, Federer looked like a man well pleased with his hitting practice. He stepped into the tramline to launch a forehand down the line for 30-0 and he settled the matter with a beautifully angled volley. "I thought I played great out there," he said afterwards.
There is a sorry history between the two. Federer put Youzhny out last year. Indeed, Youzhny has not won any of their 13 encounters. Some things, he may conclude, are not meant to be.
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