TENNIS in DEPTH.

Robin Soderling of Sweden lost to Michael Llodra of France on Friday, falling 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Open 13.

Llodra, runner-up to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga last year in an all-French final, never lost his serve and had 15 aces.

“I have great sensations,” Llodra said. “I knew it would be difficult to return his serve, but I waited for the good opportunity and I was able to keep my nerves under control.”

Tsonga joined Llodra in the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over lucky loser Illya Marchenko of Ukraine.

In a quarterfinal between two big servers, Llodra and Soderling offered few rallies but strong play at the net.

Soderling, who earned his fifth career title in Rotterdam last week, lost control of the first set in the tiebreaker when he missed two consecutive forehands.

Llodra, who beat seventh-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the second round, made the decisive break for a 2-0 advantage in the second set, and won the match when Soderling sent a passing shot wide on the first match point.

“I knew he would be nervous after losing the first set and I put the pressure on him,” Llodra said. “It paid off.”

Llodra will play the winner of the quarterfinal between Mischa Zverev of Germany and wild card Guillaume Rufin of France.

Tsonga was inconsistent against Marchenko, squandering eight of 11 break points.

Tsonga, who reached the Australian Open semifinals, showed his nerves toward the end when he wasted two match points with backhand errors.

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Gilles Simon had an unhappy return to the ATP World Tour as he crashed out in the first round of the Open 13 in Marseille today.

The Frenchman was playing in his first tournament of the year after recovering from a knee injury he aggravated in November.

Fifth seed Simon, who spent much of last year ranked in the top 10 but is now down at 16th, had a tough opener against Olivier Rochus and the Belgian proved too strong, coming through 7-5 6-2.

The French home fans were able to celebrate three victories today, though, with lucky loser Josselin Ouanna leading the way.

The 23-year-old, who beat Marat Safin at last year’s French Open, took advantage of his second chance courtesy of Christophe Rochus’ back injury to beat Denis Istomin 6-4 1-6 6-3.

Ouanna next faces second seed and defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who received a bye in the first round.

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Roger Federer sent out an ominous warning to Andy Murray as he rolled into the Australian Open final with a crushing straight sets win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The Swiss maestro, who is bidding for a fourth title at Melbourne Park, barely needed to raise a sweat as he took just one hour and 28 minutes to clinch a 6-2 6-3 6-2 victory.

Federer will now meet Murray in Sunday’s final and if the Scot ever needed any reminding of the task he faces the world number one provided it with the consummate ease of his win.

Federer completely dominated on his serve conceding just 15 points in his 13 games on delivery to leave Tsonga, the 10th seed, shell-shocked.

With no pressure no his serve Federer worked away at Tsonga’s delivery, which was not as potent as usual with the Frenchman seemingly troubled by an abdominal injury.

Federer broke serve on five occasions to book a re-match of the 2008 US Open when he beat Murray in straight sets.

Federer’s win also meant he has now reached 18 of the past 19 grand slam finals.

Federer was content with the quick manner of his victory against Tsonga, who reached the final at Melbourne Park two years ago.

“Yes, I’m very happy to be through,” Federer said.

“It is always difficult to play top players, sometimes it plays out the way you want it to and sometimes you have to work a lot harder.

“It was just so important to win that first set and get that good start.

“I thought it was quite intense early but maybe he was more fatigued mentally than physically, I think that showed near the end.”

Turning his attention to Sunday’s final against Murray, the Swiss said he expected a tough encounter especially as the Scot aims to end Britain’s 74-year wait for a male major winner.

“I know that he’d like to win the first title in British tennis in, what is it 150,000 years?” he joked.

“It would be so nice for him. He’s a nice guy.

“I will have to be aggressive. We’ve had some different types of matches against each other. We sometimes like to jerk around on the court and play some high balls at each other.

“Definitely it will be tactical. It is always a tactical game against him.”

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After splitting two close tie-breaker sets, Novak Djokovic looked to finding his way into the semi final as he dominated the third set 6-1. He rested between sets and consumed an energy bar, drank some electrolytic fluids, followed by copious amounts of water, when the colour visible drained from his face. He was pale and obviously on the verge of regurgitating all or some of his ’snack’, but took to the court to try to compete. He rushed to the bathroom for a medical time out after a couple of games but never regained his form. He lost the next two sets 6-3, 6-1. Tsonga will move into the semi final against Roger Federer.

The match highlighted the defensive skills of both players, but had it not been for Djokovic’s stomach issue it was evident that he was the superior player on the court.

Federer must be grinning from ear to ear at the prospect of meeting Tsonga instead of Djokovic.

The world No.3, who also retired from his quarter-final against Andy Roddick last year, had been in line to claim the world No.1 spot had results gone his way in Melbourne.

A second Australian Open title, twinned with defeat for Roger Federer ahead of the semi-finals, would have seen him reach the summit of the men’s rankings on Monday.

Instead, the Serb could only try and delay the inevitable in the closing stages as Tsonga powered past him and into the final four.

“It’s going to be tough because he’s the best player ever,” said Tsonga on the prospect of playing Federer, who he has beaten in one of their two previous meetings.

“I was in good shape,” said the Frenchman when asked how he felt physically. “Maybe a little bit better than him [Djokovic]!”

Asked about whether he had been aware of Djokovic’s state of health, he added: “I saw he was not very good, but sometimes, you know, he do that and he win.”

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Novak Djokovic beat Poland’s Lukasz Kubot 6-1, 6-2, 7-5 and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, who lost to Djokovic in the 2008 final, beat Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 (6), 9-7.

Djokovic, who will play Tsonga in the quarterfinals, said he’s playing well despite having a dry run at Grand Slam tournaments since his Melbourne Park victory.

“They are two different persons, physically I’m much stronger and able to get through the tough matches,” the Serbian player said. “The 2008 Australian Open is by far the best tournament I ever played … I believe I can play the same this year.”

The Williams sisters won their fourth-round matches, extending a mark in which an American woman has been in the quarterfinals every year since 1977.

Venus Williams beat Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 and Serena defeated Sam Stosur of Australia 6-4, 6-2 in just over an hour.

Serena broke Stosur in the opening game of the second set Monday. The American faced two break points in her next service game, but fought back to deuce with an ace and a service winner, then served another ace on game point.

Stosur, who beat Serena the last time the pair met in California last year, set up break point in the seventh game with a double fault, then Serena hit a forehand winner to go up 5-2. Serena then held serve in the next game to take the match.

“It’s important when you’re playing a local girl to not let the crowd get too involved or else they’ll kill you,” Serena said.

Serena could add to her Grand Slam total, and Venus could win the Australian Open for the first time, but they can’t meet in the final. They’re in the same half of the draw and will meet in the semifinals if they win their next matches.

“I think it’s challenging because we’re both so good,” Venus said of the Williams family matchups. “We both want to win. It’s just difficult I think for us to play against each other because I think we have so much respect for each other’s game.”

Venus, who has won seven singles majors, struggled to hold serve in the first set against Schiavone but was in command by the end, when she won the last six games after the 29-year-old Italian broke her to open the third set.

Williams advanced to the Melbourne Park quarterfinals for the seventh time to set up a meeting with Li Na, who helped make Chinese history. For the first time at a major, there’s two Chinese players in the quarterfinals.

Li, who upset No. 4-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3, joins Zheng Jie, the 2008 Wimbledon semifinalist, in the last eight.

Nadal takes on Andy Murray and Andy Roddick plays Marin Cilin in quarterfinals on Tuesday. Comeback player Justine Henin takes on Nadia Petrova – Henin leads the head-to-head matchups 12-2 – and Maria Kirilenko plays Zheng in women’s quarterfinals.

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Spain’s Fernando Verdasco completed a perfect preparation for the Australian Open by defeating Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 6-3 Saturday to win the Kooyong Classic.

Verdasco, who made a breakthrough at Melbourne Park a year ago when he took Rafael Nadal to a five-set marathon semi-final, spent 84 minutes in taming Tsonga, the 2008 Australian Open finalist.

The ninth-ranked Spaniard held his nerve in a tight ninth game of the first set, saving three set points for 5-4.

He then broke to seize momentum, winning the set and earning the straight-set win on a third match point after dominating in the second set.

Verdasco duplicated his Australian Open quarter-final win over Tsonga from 2009 to take the trophy at the eight-man special event considered the top tune-up for the opening Grand Slam of the season starting Monday.

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Organisers of the Capitala World Tennis Championships have announced David Ferrer, the world number 17 who helped Spain to a stunning second Davis Cup title earlier this month, will replace Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at this week’s tournament.

The stylish Spaniard will make his first appearance in Abu Dhabi and joins fellow countryman Rafael Nadal, the world number two, in a star-studded line-up of the world’s top players for the season opener starting on Thursday, December 31.

Ferrer will open his account on day one when he will meet the in-form Nikolay Davydenko.

“It’s great to have the opportunity to play in Abu Dhabi and I am very much looking forward to getting the season underway and joining some of the best players in the world for this tournament,” said Ferrer.

“Davydenko is always a tough opponent, particularly considering how well he has been playing lately, and I’m looking forward to playing him again.”

Should Ferrer beat Davydenko on the opening day, it sets up a thrilling all Spanish semifinal showdown with Nadal who will be ready and waiting for his Davis Cup winning compatriot.

“Rafa and I are great friends it would be fantastic to meet him in the semifinal. Rafa said the stadium atmosphere in Abu Dhabi last year was very exciting and he received a lot of support from the Spanish fans.

“It’s something I’m looking forward to experiencing.”

Tsonga, who injured himself during a training session earlier this week, is disappointed he will not be making his first appearance in Abu Dhabi.

The French number one has been advised by his coaching staff to rest ahead of the Australian Open after suffering the injury.

Tsonga said: “I am extremely disappointed not to be able to participate in the Capitala World Tennis Championship due to an injury.

“I hope that I will come to participate in years to come but in the meantime I wish everyone there a good event and best wishes for 2010.”

The Capitala World Tennis Championship will be staged at the Abu Dhabi International Tennis Complex, Zayed Sports City from December 31, 2009 to January 2, 2010.

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