Another Federer vs. Hewitt semifinal

Federer has struggled yet again past another opponent to advance in the Cincinnati Masters as he needed three sets (6-3 3-6 6-2) to shake off a fighting Spaniard Nicolas Almagro. The top seed had a few lapses as he was broken once in each of the first two sets. While he was able to recover in the first to get up a set, he was unable to fight back when he was broken in the eighth game of the second and Almagro hung on in the next to force a deciding third set. From then on, however, Federer took control as he broke twice in the final set to set up a second semifinal meeting with Lleyton Hewitt in two weeks.

Roger has admitted that the in-form Hewitt is one of those "who can make it hard for me to win here." While it is well known that he has defeated the former Australian world number one in their last ten matches, Roger hasn't been as dominant this year as he used to be in the last three years. Hewitt on the other hand seems to have rediscovered of late the form that made him a top ten player three years ago. But as Federer has proven that he can win matches despite playing badly--that is, compared to his usual brilliant standards--I can still see him extending his dominance over Hewitt.