• Federer overcomes Stan Wawrinka in four sets
• Rafael Nadal defeats Kei Nishikori in straight sets
Roger Federer finally got himself into a dogfight at this French Open after a relatively quiet run to the quarter-finals, where he survived an all-Swiss scrap with his long-time friend and rival Stan Wawrinka on Tuesday afternoon. Victory, though, has delivered him an even tougher assignment, the ultimate test on clay: a semi-final against the surface’s finest exponent, Rafael Nadal, their 39th career encounter.
The defending champion Nadal had a far easier time of it against Kei Nishikori – winning 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 in under two hours – than Federer did in seeing off the stubborn muscularity of Wawrinka, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in three hours and 35 minutes.
Written by Kevin Mitchell at Roland Garros
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jun/04/roger-federer-survives-swiss-scrap-rafael-nadal-semifinal under the title “Roger Federer wins Swiss scrap to book French Open semi-final against Nadal”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
