Federer, Baghdatis, Bjorkman Into Semis at Wimbledon

The last man to beat Roger Federer on grass four years ago at Wimbledon, Croatian Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic failed to play the aggressive tennis of his nickname namesake in falling 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to the Swiss world No. 1 Wednesday in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

After the victory Federer immediately donned his creme-colored Nike sports jacket and proceeded to a BBC interview where a brief toweling-off made it appear as if he had just come off a brief jog.

"It's great to be in the semifinals again," Federer said. "I thought I played a terrific match. I was prepared for a difficult match because I knew he could be very dangerous. I'm even more surprised to come through so convincingly...It was an incredible performance. It's not ordinary when he comes to the net and every time you pass him. I guess if I keep this sort of a performance, I don't see myself losing."

In the semifinals the three-time defending Wimbledon champion will next face unseeded 34-year-old Swede Jonas Bjorkman, who continued turning back the clock Wednesday to the days when he was No. 4-ranked in the world, upsetting No. 14 seed Radek Stepanek from 1-2 sets down 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(7), 6-4.
FOLDHERE
The biggest stunner on the day came from No. 18 seed Marcos Baghdatis, who before this year showed zero proficiency on the grass, in 2006 taking advantage of the slower, higher-bouncing grasscourts to oust former Wimbledon champ and No. 6 seed Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-2.

It looked like the Cypriot was going for the throat-clutcher after leading a set and two breaks at 3-0, throwing in some nervous service games and tentative play to let the Aussie "C'mon!" his way back into the second set. In the third Baghdatis righted his ship by taking the tiebreak, then cruised to a 6-2 finale in the fourth set.

"In the middle of the second set I started realizing I was beating Hewitt and started choking a bit," Baghdatis said. "But the most important thing is that I got through."

The final quarterfinal of the day between No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal and No. 22 Jarkko Nieminen was postponed due to darkness.

In doubles quarterfinal action No. 3 seeds Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor won the longest match in Grand Slam history, edging No. 8 seeds Simon Aspelin/Todd Perry 23-21 in the fifth set, and No. 7 Martin Damm/Leander Paes upset No. 4 Paul Hanley/Kevin Ullyett 6-2 in the fifth.