Roger Federer

WIMBLEDON, England  -- Showing no signs of an achy back that had seemed to bother him in the fourth round, six-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer did something he hadn't been able to do the last two years. Federer didn't lose in the quarterfinals. Bothered by nothing Wednesday, not even a brief rain delay and certainly not by his opponent, Federer advanced to his eighth Wimbledon semifinal appearance with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory in only 1 hour 32 minutes over 26th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

WIMBLEDON, England -- The tennis played by Andy Murray and David Ferrer was exquisitely quirky but also filled with the big-boy points in which the power generated by groundstrokes might have lighted up Centre Court if the Wimbledon powers ever felt as if night tennis was something to be admired. But although Murray, the dour Scotsman who groans and grunts and howls and gives the crowd a deeply personal look into his every mood, which changes on about every point, won the best-played match of the day over seventh-seeded Spaniard Ferrer, 6-7 (5)

WIMBLEDON, England — The way Maria Sharapova was talking, discussing her French Open victory last month as opposed to her Wimbledon loss Monday ("I'll have that for the rest of my career"), it was easy to think of the film "Casablanca. " "We'll always have Paris," Humphrey Bogart says in that familiar line. So will Sharapova. What she won't have now is the opportunity to be the first woman since Serena Williams in 2002 to win the French and Wimbledon back to back. Nor will she have the opportunity retain the No. 1 spot in the rankings after this week.

Never accuse Roger Federer of being shy. He hasn't been past the quarterfinals of Wimbledon (or any grass-court tournament) in the last two years and he's 30 years old. The last 30-year-old to win a major title was Andre Agassi at the 2003 Australian Open and we all know about the years when Agassi sort of went away from tennis, an offshoot of which was giving his body a chance to rest. Federer has never gone away and, in fact, is arriving at Wimbledon 2012, which begins Monday, with the serious goal of winning a seventh men's singles title, something only Pete Sampras has done at the All England Club in the modern era. And when Federer came to his first 2012 Wimbledon news conference Saturday morning, streamed on video, he was wearing a long-sleeved cream sweater with a popped collar.

Don't stop if you've heard this before because it's worth seeing in repeats. Defending champion Rafael Nadal, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and third-seeded Roger Federer, who beat Djokovic in the semifinals of the 2011 French Open and kept the almost-unbeatable Serb from sweeping all four major tournaments, are once again the heavy favorites to win one of tennis' Grand Slam events. The season's second major, the French Open, begins Sunday in Paris and only ninth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro's 2009 U.S. Open win has stopped one of the big three of Nadal, Djokovic or Federer from winning all of the majors since Russian Marat Safin won the 2005 Australian Open.

Roger Federer rallied to beat Tomas Berdych , 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, and win the Madrid Open for a third time on Sunday. Earlier, Serena Williams overpowered top-ranked Victoria Azarenka , 6-1, 6-3, to win the women's final. While Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had blamed the new blue-clay court for their early exits, Federer's biggest obstacle was to overcome an opponent who had beaten him in three of their previous five meetings. "It is amazing to win here again," said Federer, who will overtake Nadal as the second-ranked player behind Djokovic.

Roger Federer will play for his third Madrid Open title with a chance to take over the No. 2 spot in the world rankings after cruising past Janko Tipsarevic , 6-2, 6-3, in the tournament semifinals on Saturday. The Swiss star and former No. 1 advanced to a matchup in the final against Tomas Berdych , who edged Juan Martin del Potro , 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), in the other semifinal. A victory will push Federer ahead of Spain's Rafael Nadal in the rankings. On the women's side, Serena Williams will meet top-ranked Victoria Azarenka in the final after they won their semifinal matchups in straight sets.

John Isner is suddenly leaving a large footprint on the men's professional tennis circuit. The 26-year-old late bloomer has reached a career-high ranking of No. 9 in the world this year (he's No. 11 this week). He briefly became the top-rated American in the world, defeated No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells and No. 3 Roger Federer in Davis Cup play, and has led the underdog U.S. to stunning upsets of Switzerland and France on red clay in away Davis Cup matches. He has also become an Olympic contender and maybe even a power broker.

The declining career of Roger Federer appears to be a figment of the imagination of the media, especially in the wake of his straight-set victory in the final of Sunday's BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Federer handled the big serve of American John Isner with ease and won, 7-6 (7), 6-3. It was Isner's first Masters Series final; it was Federer's 19th Masters title. At 30, Federer has not won a Grand Slam event -- he holds the record with 16, generally granting him the claim as the best player of all time -- since the 2010 Australian Open.