Federer moves closer to elusive title

World number one Roger Federer [ Images ] moved closer to an elusive French Open [ Images ] title when he beat Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-2, 7-6, 6-3 on Tuesday to advance to the semi-finals at Roland Garros [ Images ] for the first time.

Top seed Federer, whose previous best result on the Paris clay was a quarter-final appearance in 2001, became the second active player behind Andre Agassi [ Images ] to have reached the semi-finals at four consecutive Grand Slam events.

The elegant Swiss, who has won every Grand Slam tournament except this one, now meets a Spaniard in Rafael Nadal [ Images ] or David Ferrer for a place in Sunday's final.

Federer was serving for the match at 5-1 but a late resistance took the set further. The Swiss number one, however, dominated the contest comprehensively.