Experience tells for Federer and Hewitt

Experience told at Wimbledon yesterday as defending champion Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt each doused Latin flair to set up a semi-final rematch at the All England Club.

Top seed Federer, who beat 2002 Wimbledon champion Hewitt in last year's quarter-finals, smothered the monstrous forehand of Chilean Fernando Gonzalez to win their last-eight encounter 7-5 6-2 7-6 on Court One.

Australian Hewitt, seeded three, had only marginally more trouble dispatching Spanish all-courter Feliciano Lopez 7-5 6-4 7-6 in his quarter-final on Centre Court.

Federer will be a strong favourite to win their semi-final in his quest for a hat-trick of Wimbledon titles. As well as beating Hewitt in four sets in the quarter-finals last year, the world number one also beat him in the Indian Wells hardcourt final in March.

The Swiss broke early on Court One to lead 4-1 before Gonzalez, the first Chilean quarter-finalist for 20 years, hit back to level the set at 4-4.

Federer simply upped his game. A lunging forehand retrieve secured him a set point at 6-5 and he needed no second invitation.

His superiority established, the defending champion made off with the second set in less than half an hour.

He allowed Gonzalez to take him to 6-6 in the third before capping an exemplary tiebreak with a match-winning ace for his 34th consecutive victory on grass, now only seven short of Bjorn Borg's record.

"It's fantastic," said Federer.

"I played a great match, today. I can beat any player with this level of play."

Twice a grand slam winner, Hewitt reached only his second Wimbledon semi-final with a typically industrious victory.

Lopez is that rarest of tennis phenomena, a Spaniard who can serve-volley.

The 23-year-old was playing his first grand slam quarter-final, however, and Hewitt is probably the best service returner in men's tennis.

The Australian refused to panic despite suffering an early service break and he broke when it really counted at the end of each of the first two sets.

Like Federer, he won the tiebreak 7-2 to end the Spaniard's hopes of becoming his country's first Wimbledon semi-finalist since Manuel Orantes in 1972.

"He got off to a flying start and I just had to wait for my opportunities," said Hewitt.

"I started seeing the ball like a football at the end of each set."

Roddick ousts Grosjean

Andy Roddick was forced to battle through five sets to defeat Sebastien Grosjean 3-6 6-2 6-1 3-6 6-3 and take his place in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the third successive year.

The American second seed had not lost a set to his practice partner in five matches but that streak was swiftly brought to an end as the 27-year-old Frenchman's flamboyant game gave him an early lead.

Former US Open champion Roddick, runner-up to Federer last year, then cranked up his formidable serve and took the second set with some ease as Grosjean lost his self-belief.

The 22-year-old Roddick looked to be strolling through to his fourth grand slam semi-final when he walked away with the third set but he suffered a lapse of concentration and Grosjean claimed the fourth.

An early break in the decisive fifth put Roddick on course for a semi-final match against Swede Thomas Johansson. He secured it with a huge serve on his first match point.

Johansson reached his first Wimbledon semi-final, downing a sluggish David Nalbandian 7-6 6-2 6-2.

A veteran of nine Wimbledon campaigns, 30-year-old Johansson looked entirely at ease on a sunny Court One after a brief early break for a passing shower.

Women's SFs today

Former champions Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams will be out to restore American domination at Wimbledon when they come face-to-face with European rivals in the semi-finals today.

Russian Maria Sharapova, who has already shown her fierce desire to retain the title she won last year, takes on Venus, while Davenport will be determined to preserve her impressive record against France's Amelie Mauresmo.