Roger Federer Fluid Roger Federer eased effortlessly to another record of a charmed career as the Swiss played and won in his 1,000th match on Tuesday, defeating Juan Del Potro 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to glide into the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
The Swiss now faces a 27th meeting and re-run of the 2009 final with Rafael Nadal, who needed more than four hours to hold off seventh seed Tomas Berdych 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-3.
"That match was unforgettable for me," said Nadal. "I never thought I'd have chances to win against Roger."
Since them the Spaniard has gone down in the Melbourne quarter-finals, but ended that trend when he beat Berdych for the 11th time in 14 meetings after coming from a set down.
World number three Federer, standing 814-186 over his brilliant career, will be playing in his 30th Grand Slam semi, one less than the all-time mark of Jimmy Connors.
Federer, winner of the record 16 Grand Slam singles trophies, controlled Argentine Del Potro with relative ease to win for the second time since losing to the South American in a 2009 US Open final shock.
The Swiss now stands 8-2 in their series after earning his 232nd win at a major.
"I wish it was 1000 wins, but I'm happy with 1000 matches in total, too," Federer joked. "It's nice to win this one ... eventually I will forget which was one was my 1000th match and someone will remind me again.
"I don't remember my 500, that was the US Open final (2005) against Agassi. It's a big milestone, a lot of matches and a lot tennis.
"Either I've been around for a long time or I'm extremely fit. I don't know. But I'm happy," said the four-time champion.
Besides winning match number 1,000, Federer also won the 2,000th set of his career by claiming the first in the contest.
On the women's side, Kim Clijsters took another huge step in her title defence, with the Belgian knocking out top seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) and putting the women's number one ranking in play.
The 11th-seeded Clijsters denied her Danish opponent after Wozniacki mounted a fightback from a set and 5-2 down, eventually taking the second set into a tiebreaker.
Wozniacki's loss means that the top-ranked player for the past two seasons will be replaced by number two Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka or Maria Sharapova.
"Obviously it's never fun to lose, but you learn more from your losses than you do from your wins," said Wozniacki. "I'll just go back and practise and try to come back even better."
Wozniacki remains without a Grand Slam title. She lost as Clijsters pounded a winner into the open court to earn a final-four match with Azarenka.
"It was important to stay focused one point at a time. I was the best I could be," said Clijsters, who took almost constant icing treatment on the ankle she rolled in her previous match against Li Na.
Clijsters had been working with her personal travelling physio in the past 48 hours since upsetting China's Li.
"I'm very happy with the way I was able to move. It was so hot out there, as well, really tough. I think they were some of the toughest conditions I've ever played in. It was good to win in two sets," she said.
Azaranka, the third-seed from Belarus, secured a place in her second career Grand Slam semi-final with a 6-7 (0-6), 6-0, 6-2 defeat of Agnieszka Radwanska, her 10th victory in a row this year after taking the Sydney title.
Azarenka needed a massive turnaround after taking a 7-0 hammering in the first-set tiebreaker against the Polish eighth seed Radwanska.
She then proceeded to reel off seven games in a row, levelling the sets at one apiece and earning a lead in the third and then breaking Radwanska for 3-1 to provide the margin for victory in a shade over two hours.
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