JOIN US Five-times champion Roger Federer tamed big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic with a comfortable 6-2 6-3 win on Saturday to join Spain's David Ferrer in the final of the Western and Southern Open here.
Federer won all 16 of his service points in the first set and closed out the match in 68 minutes, sending a clear message to his rivals that he is in top shape heading into the year's final grand slam at the Aug 25-Sept 8 US Open.
The 33-year-old Swiss, in a rematch of the Wimbledon semifinal that he won in three sets, improved to 6-0 against the Canadian fifth seed and will be playing in his second final in seven days after he lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at last week's Rogers Cup in Toronto.
For Raonic, 23, his usual booming serve produced six aces to Federer's two, but he also had three double faults compared to none by his opponent.He put a bit of a dent in Federer's serve in the second set but the Swiss managed to break serve for a third time in the eighth game of the second set, clawing back from a 0-40 hole, to record the victory.
Sixth seed Ferrer, playing his first semifinal in 11 trips to Cincinnati, breezed past Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-3 6-2 to move one win away from his 22nd title and second of the year.
Serena in final
Serena Williams rallied past Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki on Saturday to reach the women’s final where she will face Ana Ivanovic, an upset winner over French Open champion Maria Sharapova.
Top-seeded Williams had to overcome a sluggish start to beat Wozniacki 2-6 6-2 6-4 while Serbian ninth seed Ivanovic eventually prevailed in a rollercoaster 6-2 5-7 7-5 win over the Russian fifth seed that lasted nearly three hours.