Last Wednesday, Roger Federer charged into his 20th straight Grand Slam semifinal in convincing fashion. He defeated the Frenchman Gael Monfils in straight sets (7-6 [8/6] 6-2 6-4) in their quarterfinal match at the French Open.

The Swiss tennis player has been the runner-up of the tournament for the past three years. He will now advance to the semifinal round, where he will meet Juan Martin del Potro.

“It was very important to win the first set. Gael felt it mentally and physically,” said Federer. “I tried to play aggressively and because of that I made a lot of errors. Perhaps I took too many risks.”

His forehand gave Monfils all sorts of trouble.

Federer was forced to save break points in the first and 11th game as the match went into a tie-break. After two tie-breaks each, Federer secured the set with a forehand volley.

During the second set, Federer sustained the effort. This created a bigger separation between the two with Federer piling a 2-0 set lead.

In the third set, Monfils called the physician because he had a stomach problem. His condition did not gain sympathy from Federer, who continually applied pressure. 

Monfils failed to capitalize a saved break point in game nine. This proved decisive as the world’s number two had a comfortable lead in the next game.