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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had pulled off one of the most stunning turnarounds in men's tennis at Wimbledon, when he had dispatched World No.3 Roger Federer from the draw after losing the first two sets. But the Tsonga who had powered his way through to the semi-finals at SW19 in July, failed to show up for his US Open quarter-final clash against the same opponent at Arthur Ashe Stadium. A moody and erratic version had replaced him, who went out in straight sets to Federer 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 53 minutes. In the all Serbian quarterfinal clash at the top half of the draw, Novak Djokovic emerged victorious over countryman Janko Tipsarevic after the 20th seed retired trailing 7-6(2), 6-7(3), 6-0, 3-0. Djokovic will resume his rivalry with the illustrious Swiss in the semi-final. The two will be meeting for the 5th time at Flushing Meadows, with the head to head at the Open standing at 3-1 in Federer's favor.

Having lost to the hard-hitting Tsonga on the last two occasions, 5 time Champion Roger Federer was gunning for revenge against the Frenchman at the Big Apple. Tsonga began the opening set well, firing 3 unreturned serves to get off the mark. But Federer adjusted his play well while receiving in the 3rd game to put his opponent under pressure, and latched onto the only break point opportunity to lead 2-1 when Tsonga fired a forehand wide. The match was held up for almost an hour and a half as rain came down with the set poised at 3-2 in Federer's favor. And when the match resumed after the break, Federer's serve came under the gun immediately. In an error strewn game 6 by the Swiss, Tsonga managed to produce a terrific crosscourt pass from the baseline to set up a break point for himself. Federer eventually shot the ball wide to level the set at 3 games apiece. A racket change ultimately did the trick for Federer in the 9th game and Tsonga's game fell apart, resulting in three uncharacteristic errors off the Frenchman's forehand with Federer merely playing deep and accurate. At 4-5, 30-40, Tsonga wilted under pressure to hand the No.3 seed the break and the set 6-4 in 37 minutes.

The flurry of winners and unplayable serves which were the highlight of Tsonga's win over Federer at Wimbledon were completely missing on Thursday night. With a set in the bag, Federer began to open up and enforce his attacking style. He unleashed two pristine forehand winners to set up a couple of break points in the third game and took a 2-1 lead as an off-color Tsonga netted an easy forehand. The Frenchman's lacklustre show continued and he was broken again in the 5th game to trail 4-1. He did manage to pull one back in the following game and raised a glimmer of hope among his fans to bring the scoreline back to a salvageable 4-3. But another poor service game cost him dear as Federer capitalized on his weakness and took the set 6-3.

The third set progressed on serve till 4-3 with Tsonga serving , until another bout of unforced errors and a lethal Federer forehand saw the Swiss earn two break points. Tsonga saved both, taking the game to deuce and had numerous chances to close out the game. But Federer managed to stay in contention and his perseverance paid off as the Frenchman doubled faulted to concede the all important break of serve. Tsonga hung around for a while in the next game and even saved a match point, but by then it was too little too late for him, and Federer held serve to seal the contest in his favor. With rain hampering the schedule so far, the luck of the draw has gone Federer's way, and he will play his semi-final match after a day's rest on Saturday.

World No.1 Novak Djokovic dropped his first set in the US Open 2011 en route to a 7-6(2), 6-7(3), 6-0, 3-0 win over countryman Janko Tipsarevic at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday afternoon. Tipsarevic was forced to retire having succumbed to a leg injury, after taking the fight to his opponent in the first two hotly contested sets. With the win in the bag, the reigning Wimbledon champion edges into the semi-final at Flushing Meadows for the fifth year in a row.

Both Serbs struggled to seize the advantage in the opening set. Tipsarevic was off to a flying start, breaking Djokovic in the very first game of the match. Squandering chances to go up 3-0, he went on to lose the next 5 games in a row. However with Djokovic serving for the set at 5-3, the coolheaded Tipsarevic raised his game to break the top seed after fending off a set point, and leveled proceedings a game later at 5 all. It was Djokovic's turn to take the heat, with the Serb conceding a break in game 11 to allow the 20th seed to serve for the set. But he immediately broke back in the following game to force the opening set into a tie breaker, which he eventually dominated and won 7-2.

Tipsarevic shook off the loss of a set and raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set and had three opportunities to clinch a decisive double break. But Djokovic summoned the will power that has kept him a notch above his competitors this season, and he took one of two break point chances presented by his opponent and propelled the set into another tie break. This time though, Tipsarevic was the aggressor in the breaker, grabbing it 7-3 in his favor.

The mammoth effort of wrestling a set from the marauding Djokovic took its toll on Tipsarevic, and Djokovic sprinted through the next 6 games and clinched the set to love. At its conclusion, the 20th seed received treatment on his leg. After dropping the next 3 games in set 3, Tipsarevic decided he could not continue, and retired after nealry 4 hours of play.

Men's Singles - Quarterfinals
[1] Novak Djokovic(SRB) def. [20] Janko Tipsarevic(SRB) 7-6(2) 6-7(3) 6-0 3-0 retd.
[3] Roger Federer(SUI) def. [11] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga(FRA) 6-4 6-3 6-3

Also Read: US Open 2011 Men's Semi-final Preview / Rafa-Murray to meet in Semi-Final; Sock-Oudin win Mixed Doubles Title / Preview: US Open Women's Singles Semi-finals / Wozniacki downs Petkovic to reach Semis / Serena,Stosur book US Open Semi-final spots

File Photograph Copyright: Madrid Masters