Federer flattens Roddick to set up showdown with Nadal

ROGER FEDERER continued his domination of Andy Roddick with another crushing win over the American yesterday at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

The world number one has responded well to his defeat to Fernando Gonzalez on Monday in his Red Group opener.

A convincing win over Nikolay Davydenko put him firmly back in contention and the Russian’s victory over Gonzalez earlier yesterday assured Federer a place in the semi-finals.

Federer was dominant throughout, winning 6-4 6-2 in just 61 minutes to register his 11th successive win against the big-serving 25-year-old and the 15th in 16 career meetings.

The champion tried to play down his performance afterwards, however. “Let’s not over-rate today’s match, because we both qualified, both could play freely,” he said.

“I know that my game matches up well with his, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to beat him all the time. Look what happened with Gonzalez. You think you have a guy under control. It turns around.”

Next up for Federer is a last-four clash with world number two Rafael Nadal. “I’m very excited to actually play against him. It’s always nice for the best two to be playing against each other in the last tournament of the season,” added Federer.

Roddick’s semi-final opponent is Spaniard David Ferrer, the only man to emerge from the group phase with an unblemished record.

“It seems like most times we play he (Federer) is on top of his game, which is a little annoying,” he said.

“I guess I just have to figure out what about my game brings out the best in him and try to adjust.”

As for the clash with Ferrer, he added: “I’ll have my hands full. I still feel like I’m hitting the ball well. I just can’t let my disappointment spill over into tomorrow.”