Fed-Ex motors into semis; Venus eclipsed

“I’ve had a good match,” said the top seed. “It’s never easy to play against Mario, never easy to beat him because of his serve. I’m happy to be in the last four, it was my first goal.’’

The big-serving Ancic played his heart out for a set-and-a-half but in the end he could only shake his head in frustration as Federer recorded his third win in four meetings against the Croatian.

Ancic let four break points slip in the opening set but kept pace with Federer until the final game, where a jittery service game allowed Federer to snatch the break and the set.

In the second set, Ancic captured the Federer serve in the opening game and could have made matters worse if he had converted any of the three break opportunities he earned at 2-0 up.

Federer dragged himself out of the hole from 0-40 down, and went on to capture the last five games of the set in astounding fashion to leave the 12th seed completely deflated. Ancic was never to recover thereafter.

In the women’s draw, Venus Williams lost Tuesday to a 17-year-old upstart.

Nicole Vaidisova pulled off her second successive shocker at Roland Garros, beating Williams 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3 to earn her first Grand Slam semi-final berth.

The pattern of Vaidisova’s victory was remarkably similar to her previous match, when she stunned top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo 6-7 (5),6-1, 6-2. When a Williams forehand sailed long on match point – her 70th unforced error – Vaidisova dropped her racket and threw up her arms in glee. “I’ve surprised myself a little,” said Vaidisova, seeded 16th. “Twice in a row with some great play … it definitely boosts your confidence a lot.”

Vaidisova’s semi-final opponent will be Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat her compatriot, Dinara Safina, 7-6 (5), 6-0. Vaidisova won despite eight double-faults and 57 unforced errors herself, and from the start she took advantage of Williams’ sloppy shots.

Williams lost four consecutive games early, committing 15 unforced errors as she fell behind 4-1. Then, thanks to a flurry of mistakes by Vaidisova, Williams won 16 of the next 19 points to lead 5-4. Vaidisova settled down and took a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker, but again Williams rallied to take the set.

In the second set, Vaidisova won a 16-point game to break for a 3-1 lead, and won the final five games of the set as the match began to slip away from Williams. “I just kept fighting and getting as many balls back as I could,” Vaidisova said. “I kept hanging in there.”