Washington, DC
23 January 2008
World No. 1 men's tennis player Roger Federer of Switzerland continued defense of his Australian Open title with a 7-5, 7-6, 6-4 quarterfinal victory over American James Blake Wednesday in Melbourne.
Federer's semifinal opponent will be Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who dominated Spaniard David Ferrer 6-0, 6-3, 7-5.
Meanwhile, another Serbian woman is making waves in Melbourne, as No. 4 seed Ana Ivanovic defeated American Venus Williams 7-6, 6-4. Williams's loss came a day after her sister, defending champion Serena, was ousted by Ivanovic's compatriot Jelena Jankovic.
Ivanovic will face Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinal on Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. In the other women's semifinal, Jankovic will square off against Russian Maria Sharapova, who ousted world No. 1 Justine Henin of Belgium.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.