(Sports Network) - Roger Federer breezed through the first two sets against Swede Robin Soderling, but then had to hold on for a tenuous four-set victory to advance to the semifinals at the U.S. Open, keeping alive his quest for a sixth straight title at the major tournament.

The top-seeded Federer sweated out the 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (8-6) victory Wednesday night and stretched his U.S. Open winning streak to 39 matches.

"It feels great. It was so close towards the end," said Federer. "It's a great relief to come through because Robin played better and better as the match went on."

The triumph means the super Swiss will match up with Serbian Novak Djokovic at the major for a third straight year. The fourth-seeded Djokovic snuck past tough 10th-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7-2), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 during the afternoon session Wednesday at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center. Djokovic was the 2007 runner-up and he lost to Federer in last year's semifinals.

This marks the 22nd straight time Federer has gained at least the semifinals at a Grand Slam event. The last time he failed to reach the plateau was at the 2004 French Open, when Federer was bounced in the third round.

"It's not what I aim for, that's for sure, but it's probably one the greatest records, for me anyway," said Federer. "I'm just happy it keeps on going."

He also moved to 12-0 lifetime against Soderling, who came in as the 12th seed. In fact, before Wednesday the Swiss had lost just one set against Soderling, who reached the final at the French Open this year before succumbing to Federer in straight sets. Federer also beat Soderling in the fourth round at Wimbledon this summer.

Federer beat Andy Murray in last year's final to capture his Open Era-record fifth straight title at Flushing Meadows. The amazing Federer is seeking his 16th major title to extend his own record. He has already won the French Open and Wimbledon this season. Wednesday also marked his 50th win (50-4) at the U.S. Open.

Federer needed just 25 minutes to win the first set. Soderling actually had a pair of break point opportunities in the first game, but blew them. The Swede was then broken at love in the next game and Federer fired a scorching backhand winner to end the third game.

Soderling surrendered the first seven games of the match before the crowd gave a small cheer after he squared the second set, 1-1.

Federer broke Soderling to move ahead, 4-2, in the second set and finished it off with an ace, completing the first two sets in less than an hour.

"The beginning was a bit too easy," said Federer. "Then all of a sudden he found his way into the match. He showed what a great player he really is."

After pushing the third set to the tiebreaker, it looked as if Soderling would wilt as Federer won the first four points and held a 5-2 lead. Soderling came back to win the ensuing four points. Federer fought off one set point with a great crosscourt winner on a net approach, but a Soderling forehand winner and a long return by Federer forced a fourth set.

Neither player broke serve leading to the tiebreaker. Soderling had a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker, but he sent a return long and wide. A wide backhand then moved Federer in front as the Swede moved back to serve. But Soderling returned a ball wide, and Federer squeaked through to the semifinals.

Federer had 28 aces and took advantage of 45 unforced errors from Soderling.

The former Aussie Open champion Djokovic pulled ahead of Verdasco by sneaking out the third set, and then cruised in the fourth while an ailing Verdasco battled an abdominal strain, which required treatment from a trainer on a couple of occasions.

Djokovic broke Verdasco's serve for a 2-1 lead in the fourth set and broke again for a commanding 4-1 advantage. Three games later, the Serbian star closed out the match on his first match point, a forehand volley winner.

"It feels great," said Djokovic of the semifinal berth. "I haven't done that in the past three Grand Slams this year, so mentally it was very important for me to overcome today's challenge and to be able to win the quarterfinals and to get to the semifinals for the first time in the Grand Slams in 2009."

The 22-year-old Djokovic moved on in 3 hours, 5 minutes with the help of 10 aces, and 58 unforced errors from Verdasco.

"I think that the problem was there, and everybody knows about it," said Verdasco about his abdominal strain. "Just the thing that today I had Djokovic in front of me, and he's a great player, very good player, one of the best."

Djokovic will appear in his third straight U.S. Open semifinal (1-1). He's seeking his eighth trip into a final this season.

It should be an intriguing matchup Saturday in the semifinals, as Djokovic has beaten Federer in four of the 12 all-time meetings. That includes a pair of victories this year for the Serbian.

"There are no secrets in each other's game," said Djokovic. "It's a matter of a good day. I hope I can have a good day and concentrate, and physically I'm going to have enough time to recover and be ready."

The quarterfinals will conclude on Thursday, when third-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal takes on 11th-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez and sixth-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro faces 16th-seeded Croat Marin Cilic.

The former world No. 1 Nadal is a six-time major champion, including this year's Australian Open title. Nadal is 6-3 lifetime against Gonzalez, having won the last five encounters. The best finish for Gonzalez at a major was a runner-up finish to Federer at the 2007 Aussie Open.

The Nadal-Gonzalez match will come at night. During the afternoon it'll be del Potro trying for his second semifinal at a Grand Slam this year. He lost to Federer in a tough five-setter at the French Open. Cilic already has his best career result in a major tournament. Cilic and del Potro have played just once before with the Chilean winning in the round-of-16 at this year's Aussie Open.

The men's doubles final is set, but it won't involve the top-seeded American duo of Bob and Mike Bryan. They were beaten in the semifinals Wednesday by the fourth-seeded team of Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic and Leander Paes of India, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6). In the other semifinal, No. 3 seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles beat the fifth-seeded team of Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram, 6-4, 6-2.







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