JOIN USRoger Federer was knocked out of the French Open at the quarterfinal stage on Tuesday, falling in three sets to fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, the eighth seed, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Federer, the second seed and 2009 champion at Roland Garros, had only ever lost twice in 18 previous meetings with his compatriot but was well beaten on a windy Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion proved incapable of breaking his opponent's serve at all over the course of a match that lasted two hours and nine minutes.
Remarkably, it was just the third time in his career he had failed to break an opponent's serve in a Grand Slam match — the last came against Max Mirnyi at the US Open in 2002 when he was aged just 21 and had not yet won a major.
It is a further sign of the decline of the 33-year-old, who was also beaten in the third round of the Australian Open earlier this year by Italy’s Andreas Seppi. Federer's last Grand Slam title was almost three years ago when he captured his seventh Wimbledon title in 2012.
In contrast, Wawrinka broke decisively in the first set and then twice more in the second. There were no breaks in a far tighter third set, but Wawrinka won it on his second match point in the tiebreak.
Through to his first ever French Open semifinal, Wawrinka will face local hope Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who overcame a strong challenge from Japan’s fifth seed Kei Nishikori before winning the tie 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3.
"Today was my best match on clay and it's an incredible moment for me. The conditions were difficult with a lot of wind but I believed in my game and it was a really incredible match from me," said Wawrinka, who was the junior champion at Roland Garros in 2003.
The 2014 Australian Open champion's run in Paris comes after he beat Rafael Nadal at the Rome Masters recently before losing to Federer in the semi-finals. "I'm playing good tennis and I'm really pleased to be in Paris semifinals for first time," he added.
Meanwhile, the quarterfinal between Nishikori and Tsonga on the main Court Philippe Chatrier was held up for more than half an hour when a metal sheet from a giant video screen was blown off in high winds, crashing into spectators and leaving three slightly injured.
Ivanovic, Safarova win
In the women’s event, Ana Ivanovic and Lucie Safarova will clash for a place in the final after comfortably defeating younger rivals.
Ivanovic reached her first Grand Slam semifinal in seven years when she beat Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-2 while Safarova booked a place in the French Open last four for the first time by seeing off Garbine Muguruza 7-6 (7/3), 6-3. Serb seventh seed Ivanovic, 27, last made the semifinals of a major on her way to her only Grand Slam title in Paris in 2008.
It will be her fifth last-four appearance at a major following similar runs to the 2007 and 2008 semifinals at Roland Garros, Wimbledon in 2007 and the Australian Open in 2008. "I don't know whether to feel happy or old," said Ivanovic, who has now won all her seven meetings against Svitolina, seven years her junior.
The other quarterfinals take place on Wednesday when two-time champion Williams tackles Italy's Sara Errani, the 2012 runner-up, and Swiss 23rd seed Timea Bacsinszky faces unseeded Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck. Bacinszky defeated fourth seed Petra Kvitova on Monday. The Swiss won 2-6, 6-0, 6-3.
Results (Quarterfinals): Men: Singles: Stan Wawrinka (Sui) bt Roger Federer (Sui) 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (4); Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt Kei Nishikori (Jap) 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3. Doubles: Jean-Julien Rojer (Ned)/ Horia Tecau (Rom) bt Vasek Pospisil (Can)/ Jack Sock (US) 6-3, 6-3; Bob Bryan (US)/ Mike Bryan (US) bt Marcin Matkowski (Pol)/ Nenad Zimonjic (Srb) 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4.Women: Quarterfinals: Ana Ivanovic (Srb) bt Elina Svitolina (Ukr) 6-3, 6-2; Lucie Safarova (Cze) bt Garbiñe Muguruza (Esp) 7-6 (3), 6-3. Mixed Doubles: Lucie Hradecka (Cze)/ Marcin Matkowski (Pol) bt Timea Babos (Hun)/ Alexander Peya (Aus) 7-6 (4), 3-6, 10-8; Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US)/ Mike Bryan (US) bt Anastasia Rodionova (Aus)/Aisam Qureshi (Pak) 6-0, 7-6 (3).