Unflappable Federer brushes Karlovic aside

ROGER Federer ruthlessly exposed Ivo Karlovic as little more than a one-trick pony as he breezed his way into the last four at Wimbledon.

ROGER ROGER: Federer proves far too strong for big-serving Ivo Karlovic in the last eight

The five-time champion made mince meat of the big-serving Croat in just one hour and 42 minutes, waltzing into the semi-finals with a sublime 6-3. 7-5, 7-6 victory.

Despite booming down 23 aces, the occasion appeared to get the better of 22nd seed Karlovic who often found the ball flying past him with interest on his blistering serve.

Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka did his best to upset the applecart on Monday, but his compatriot Federer is showing no signs of blowing off course in his merciless pursuit of his sixth Wimbledon crown in seven years.

Karlovic was systematically dismantled by Federer, who has now booked his seventh consecutive semi-finals appearance in SW19, and a 21st in a row in all Grand Slams.

If there was any doubt as to who is the man to beat this year, no-one told Federer.

"It's difficult to play someone like Ivo because there are very few base-line rallies. He obviously has a huge serve and I go for it on my serve too so that doesn't mean a lot of long points," said Federer.

"I didn't expect to break serve that many times so to have done so at least twice was very satisfying.

"And I'm feeling great at the moment. The statistics are really pleasing. It shows I'm really consistent and I'm right at the top of my game.

"Maybe if I had won here last year I could be even more confident but having beaten Rafa (Nadal) in Madrid and won in Paris I could really have much more self-belief."

An ominous warning for all the hopeful Murray maniacs crammed onto Henman Hill like sardines, desperate to see Murray overcome the unseeded Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The draw could not have been much more favourable for the Scot, and having chalked up a comfortable straight-sets victory over the Spaniard at Queen's earlier this month, the frazzled lobsters will most likely see their man have his day in the sun.

Should he run into Federer in this kind of form, however, there will only be one winner.

While Karlovic has blown away Fernando Verdasco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seeded seventh and ninth respectively, with his cannonball serve, Federer rose to the challenge.

He raced into a 4-1 lead with a typically liquid backhand sealing the break, and served out the first set in just 23 minutes.

The second set followed suit. Karlovic, in his first Grand Slam quarter-final appearance, wilted it the blazing sun, Federer spread like wildfire and was two-sets to the good in double-quick time.

The Swiss star seemed to take his foot off the pedal in the third set, Karlovic managed to at least force a tie-break, but Federer cranked it up a notch and sealed a 7-3 win to complete victory.

In-form Tommy Haas will await in the last four after a 7-5, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 victory over fourth seed Novak Djokovic.

"Words can't really describe how I feel," said Haas - who captured victory at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle before arriving in Wimbledon.

"Winning in Germany really gave me some confidence and I'm on a bit of a roll now."

Regardless of how well the German is playing at the moment, he better bring more than one weapon to compete with Federer's bulging arsenal.

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