Roger Federer edged 130th-ranked qualifier Gilles Muller 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (5) at the US Open on Thursday to reach the semifinals for the 18th consecutive Grand Slam tournament. It was Federer's 32nd victory in a row at Flushing Meadows, where he has won the past four championships. Despite playing a man who never before had passed the third round at a major event, Federer had some trouble. He wasted six set points in the opener but closed it out on his seventh chance when Muller missed a backhand volley. Federer only went 1-for-11 on break-point chances. “Today was particularly difficult - the sun, the wind, and he's been serving great,” Federer told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd. “I didn't get that many opportunities.” No other man has played in more than 10 major semifinals in a row. Bidding for a 13th Grand Slam title, which would move him one shy of Pete Sampras' record, Federer will meet No. 3 Novak Djokovic or No. 8 Andy Roddick in the semifinals. Djokovic and Roddick were to play later. Saturday's other men's semifinal will be No. 1 Rafael Nadal vs. No. 6 Andy Murray. In the women's semifinals Friday, two-time champion Serena Williams will face Dinara Safina, and Jelena Jankovic will meet Elena Dementieva. One of the four will move up to No. 1 in the rankings after the tournament. On Wednesday Serena fought off 10 set points to prevail in the greatest duel yet with sister Venus, a heart-stopping 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (9-7) victory. Played with uncommon ferocity and passion from both combatants, Serena emerged triumphant in the gruelling two-hour-25-minute battle to reach the final four at Flushing Meadows for the first time since her 2002 win. The eight-time Grand Slam winner turned away two set points in the first 8-6 tiebreaker and eight more in the second set, including four in the final 9-7 tiebreak, which ended with a Venus forehand drive landing beyond the baseline. “I can't believe I won,” Serena said courtside. “Wow.” With the victory Serena edged to a 9-8 advantage in her head-to-head sibling rivalry with Venus. “I think we played a great match,” Serena said. “It just boiled down to one point here and there.” Serena put on an amazing display of athleticism, racing from corner to corner to retrieve rocket forehands from Venus, stretching, straining and even sliding into a full split along the baseline trying to run down a blast. The win sent Serena to the semifinals against sixth seed Safina, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Italy's Flavia Pennetta. Top seed Nadal, looking for his first US Open title to underline his new status as world number one, booked a date with Murray in the men's semifinals. The Spaniard closed Wednesday's marathon night session with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over unseeded American Mardy Fish. Delayed by a series of long matches, Nadal clinched his first trip to a US semifinal at 2:10 A.M. with a boisterous throng of fans still on hand in the city that never sleeps. Murray gave a roar of relief after ending the 23-match winning streak of Argentine teenager Juan Martin Del Potro 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal. Paes and Black win mixed doubles India's Leander Paes and Zimbabwe's Cara Black won the mixed doubles title at the US Open on Thursday, beating Briton Jamie Murray and American Liezel Huber 7-6, 6-4. The fifth seeds saved two set points in the first-set tiebreak before breaking once in the second to clinch their first Grand Slam title together. Black hit a crucial volley to save the first set point and Murray, who won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 2007 with Jelena Jankovic, netted a volley on the second. Murray was the only man to lose his serve, in the fifth game of the second, and Paes served out for his eighth Grand Slam title, while Black has now won seven, including three mixed. Black and Huber will join up in the final of the women's doubles when they play American Lisa Raymond and Australian Sam Stosur, the 10th seeds. Paes will be looking to win the men's doubles title when he and Czech Lukas Dlouhy, the seventh seeds, play American twins, Bob and Mike Bryan on Friday. – AP __
