Roger Federer avenge his Wimbledon defeat with a 6-4 6-3 6-3 victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to set up a semi-final rematch with Novak Djokovic at the US Open. Frenchman Tsonga had come from two sets down to beat Roger in the last eight at the All England Club, the only player to manage such a feat at a impressive slam, but in truth a repeat never look on the cards in the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
A rain interruption, the first of the day, briefly held up the third seed's charge but he did not allow Tsonga to take charge in the match and in the end it was a comfortable victory. The players came out as listed but after only five games the rain returned to flush Meadows. It looked like they may have to come back tomorrow but finally the sky cleared and the court was dried.
There had been enough time for Roger to break the Tsonga serve but he punctually gave away his benefit on the recommencement. However, the 11th seed was broken again for 5-4 when he netted a volley and that was enough for Roger to take the first set.
Tsonga had also compressed the 16-time grand slam champion in their most recent meeting in Montreal last month but Roger was relentless in his aggressive, not allowing his adversary to get into a rhythm on his huge groundstroke.
In the second set the Swiss moved two breaks ahead but Tsonga react by retrieve one right away and at last he was approaching Roger. The 30-year-old stood firm, though, and another break gave him the set. He would still have been wary, of course, given his Wimbledon experience, and Tsonga forced a break point in the fifth game of the third set - but he could not take it.
Roger was serving superbly, much to the frustration of his adversary, and once again it was Tsonga was cracked in the eighth game. Three huge forehands took Roger to 15-40 but twice he missed his option and on a third breaks point the Frenchman came up with an ace. But he followed up with a simple volley into the net and a double responsibility sealed his fate. Roger victory means he will play Djokovic in the last four for the second year in a row, with the Serb saving match points to victory 12 months ago before losing in the final to Rafael Nadal.