BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhuanet) -- The world number one, Swissland's Roger Federer Wednesday beat Croatia's Mario Ancic 6-1 7-5 6-4 to reach the Wimbledon semifinal. "I played great today. I served excellently with many aces which is always important against a player like Mario," said Federer, who fired down 15 aces.

"It was a tough day. There was a rain delay which broke my momentum a little bit because I had started really well but I got back into it and played really well."

It was Ancic who beat Federer in the first round of Wimbledon in 2002, a year before Federer began his run of five titles at Wimbledon.

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball during his quarterfinal match of the men's singles against Mario Ancic of Croatia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, capital of Britain, on July 2, 2008. Federer won 3-0 (6-1, 7-5, 6-4) and advanced to the semifinal

Federer would meet Marat Safin in the next round, who served 18 aces and overcame Feliciano Lopez 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1), 6-3 to become the first Russian man to make the Wimbledon semifinals in the 40-year history of the Open era.

The world second-ranked Rafael Nadal is moving closer to his third straight Wimbledon final by beating Andy Murray 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

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