14-1 for a 14th straight grand slam semifinal

World number one Roger Federer proved that he was still better than a near-perfect Andy Roddick when they met for the fifteenth time in their careers at the US Open quarterfinals.

Since I was at work while the match was being played, I couldn't watch the match live and could only resort to watching the live scoreboard on the US Open website. (Bandwidth was woefully slow that I couldn't even listen to the coverage of the match over the US Open radio.) But I've see clips of the match on YouTube since and have read how this turned out to be an exciting match with tennis played at a high level throughout. After that humiliating spanking he got at the hands of Federer in this year's Australian Open, it is clear that Roddick was determined to restore his dignity and reputation as a tennis player. Still, I can only speculate on how each played based on how the scores progressed on the live scoreboard and on the match statistics. And all these indeed show that this was probably the best that Roddick has ever played against Federer.

Roddick had 71% of his first serves in and hit 42 winners against just 24 unforced errors. That's pretty impressive in itself. The final score 7-6(5) 7-6(4) 6-2 also shows how Roddick managed to hold serve during the first two sets--something I don't think he has done in their recent meetings. Still, he lost to the great one who did even better: Federer fired--as always--more aces than Roddick, hit six more winners and made an six less unforced errors. The Swiss even made a ridiculous return on a 140mph from Roddick, making the ball land right at the feet of the Roddick who was obviously caught by surprise and could only return it long. This was just one of the key points which once again the defending champion proved he knew how to play magnificently when it mattered. The loss of both tiebreaks after playing his best must have broken Roddick's resolve come the beginning of the third set that Federer managed to break Roddick's serve twice to clinch a spot in the semifinals. (It was comical to see how the cameras panned back to Jimmy Connors sighing in relief after Roddick saved a break point in that set. Of course, there was nothing Roddick could do about the second break point.)

One has to feel for Roddick who reportedly returned to the men's locker room swearing in frustration and was in a sour mood throughout his post-match interview. This latest meeting between the two only shows once again what a great player Federer is. With Nadal out of the picture (he lost to Ferrer in the fourth round) I believe that there is probably no one who can stop Roger's relentless march toward a historic fourth straight US Open title.