Federer reaches US Open semi-finals

Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer reached the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday by defeating Robin Soderling 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (8/6), but the Swede made him scrap for it after a dismal start. It will be a record 22nd consecutive appearance in a Grand Slam semi-final for the Swiss star who is also bidding to win a record-equalling sixth straight US Open title.

Federer will play Serbian fourth seed Novak Djokovic for a place in Sunday's final and the chance to win a 16th Grand Slam title, two more than all-time second best Pete Sampras. "It was so close towards the end and it's a great relief to come through because he played better and better as the game went on," he said.

"It was too easy at the start, but he battled his way back into it and showed what a great player he is. "It was cool when it started and being from Switzerland that was OK with me, but then it got cooler and him being from Sweden that was in his favour."

Soderling had two break points on Federer's opening serve but after failing to convert either of those, he was simply blown away by the artistry and power of the Swiss star's game. The first set was wrapped up in just 26 minutes with Soderling left shaking his head at his own inability to do anything about stopping the onslaught.

Soderling, who lost to Federer in the French Open final after pulling off the upset of the year by ending Rafael Nadal's reign at Roland Garros, finally opened his account by holding serve to draw level 1-1 in the second set. The big Swede stayed with Federer until 2-2, but then dropped serve for a fourth time and Federer raced away to take the set 6-3 after a bout of racquet-smashing from his frustrated opponent.

The third set saw Soderling steady the sinking ship and he even had two break points to lead 4-2, but they both were rubbed out by big serves from Federer. He did succeed in dragging Federer into a tie-break but fell quickly behind 4-0. It looked all over, but with nothing to lose, and finally unleashing his big serves and forehands, Soderling clawed his way back into it from 2-5 down to force a fourth set by taking the tie-break 8-6.

It was just the second set Soderling had taken off Federer in 12 matches dating back to 2004. There was just a hint of frustration from Federer over his inability to put Soderling away as the Swede stubbornly hung on to his serve in the fourth set to force a second tie-break. Both men sent down some big serves and Soderling had a set point at 6-5 to force a fifth set, but hit a forehand long and wide.

Federer then took the final two points of the match to chalk up his 40th straight win at Flushing Meadows, including one walkover. Turning to his semi-final against Djikovic, Federer said: "I've played him here the last couple of years, a final and a semi. "It will be a tough match and I am looking forward to it."

World Cup in sight for England, Serbia, Spain

England, Serbia, Spain and Slovakia can all book their places at next summer's World Cup in South Africa when European qualifying Spain players continues on Wednesday. England and Serbia have the most straightforward tasks, with both sides needing just a victory to secure top spot in their respective groups and subsequently progress to the finals.

Fabio Capello's England take on Croatia at Wembley, while Serbia welcome Raymond Domenech's under-achieving France to Belgrade.European champions Spain, meanwhile, can guarantee their passage only if they beat Estonia in Merida and second-placed Bosnia-Herzegovina fail to win at home to Turkey.Slovakia will qualify if they win in Northern Ireland and the match between Slovenia and Poland in Maribor ends in a draw.

A place in a fourth consecutive World Cup awaits England if they beat Croatia, but revenge is also likely to be a motivating factor for the home side.The Croats prevented England from qualifying for Euro 2008 by beating them 3-2 on a sodden November night at Wembley in 2007 and England midfielder Gareth Barry says the players will draw inspiration from that dispiriting defeat.

"There's a lot of players in that dressing room who won't forget that night at Wembley and we're back here again," said the Manchester City man."There'll be a few memories but it's a different manager and a different team and although it will be in the back of our minds, we'll be confident."

England's failure two years ago set in motion a chain of events that saw Capello replace Steve McClaren at the helm and the Italian has since overseen a run of seven straight competitive wins.Croatia, though, arrive desperate for points in their bid to finish ahead of third-placed Ukraine and coach Slaven Bilic has upped the ante by claiming that England have lost vital qualities under Capello.

"They are a very different team," said Bilic."They have some advantages but they are also missing something from their game. They are missing some Englishness, some of the things that have always made England teams difficult to defend against and play against," added Bilic, who spent four years in England playing for West Ham and Everton.

Croatia's Balkan neighbours Serbia go into their crunch clash with France in a far healthier position, four points clear of Domenech's men and with South Africa in sight.Radomir Antic's side will be just three points away from qualifying even if they only manage a draw on Wednesday, but Antic says they will not be playing it safe.

"We're not interested in any calculations, we got the result we wanted from the France v Romania match [1-1] and it's now our turn to prove our worth," said the former Atletico Madrid handler."We know who we're up against but we're improving all the time and we want to make an impact on the world soccer map, not just qualify for the World Cup."

France are not the only major nation in danger of missing out on qualification, as Portugal currently trail Group One leaders Denmark by seven points.The play-offs already look Portugal's most likely route to South Africa, but defeat to second-placed Hungary in Budapest on Wednesday would leave Cristiano Ronaldo
and co with only a mathematical chance of finishing second.

"We have to raise our heads and keep believing," said Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz. "The game is not over and while it lasts, we have to believe."Denmark can move to within three points of qualification if they win in Albania, while Group Two leaders Switzerland will also be within touching distance of the finals if they win in Latvia and Greece fail to beat Moldova.Elsewhere, Scotland can secure second place in Group Nine with a draw at home to Bert van Marwijk's already-qualified Netherlands.

Spain crush Belgium to near World Cup

European champions Spain moved to within touching distance of the World Cup finals after coasting to a 5-0 win over Belgium in La Coruna Spain on Saturday.Valencia duo David Silva and David Villa both scored twice with Barcelona defender Gerard Pique also on target in the five-goal romp and the scoreline should have been more emphatic.

The double from Villa, who also missed a penalty, raises his international goals tally to 33 in just 51 games as he closes in on the national record of 44 held by Real Madrid striker Raul. Spain have a flawless seven wins at the top of Group 5, six points ahead of second-placed Bosnia Herzegovina who won 2-0 at Armenia.

If Spain beat Estonia in Merida on Wednesday and Bosnia fail to beat Turkey they will qualify for the World Cup finals with two games to spare. "It was nice to win and get back scoring again (after three games without a goal)," said Villa.

"We started so well and should have been more than 1-0 up at the break. I missed my penalty although it was a bit unfortunate although I will be ready to take the next one that comes up." Silva added: "It was an important game to win and we did it well. I am coming back following injury and just hope I can continue injury-free for the rest of the season."

Villarreal midfielder Marcos Senna failed to recover from a knock sustained at the weekend so emerging Barcelona star Sergi Busquets, 21, won his seventh cap starting alongside Xabi Alonso in central midfield. Alonso's Real Madrid team-mate Alvaro Arbeloa was also handed a chance to impress at right-back with Sergio Ramos still injured.

Injuries meant Belgium had to hand a tough debut to goalkeeper Jean Francois Gillet. Gillet had a busy game throughout and Villa went close twice in the opening ten minutes. Villa zipped a low shot just wide of post in the eighth minute and then spurned a golden chance two minutes later with the debutant goalkeeper blocking his effort with his legs.

Belgium were struggling and Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen collected the first yellow card of the match for hacking down Fernando Torres. In the 21st minute Villa won a soft penalty by wrongfooting Anthony Vanden Borre and picked himself up for the spot-kick. The Valencia striker opted to strike his penalty down the middle and Gillet saved with his trailing foot.

Villa then hit the post before setting up Silva for the goal on 41 minutes with a delightful pass and Silva made no mistake with a clinical finish for only his fourth international goal. After a frustrating first half Villa got his goal four minutes after the break with a trademark right-footed finish.

Sixty seconds later centre-half Pique showed a striker's composure in the penalty area to make it 3-0 before Silva smashed in a terrific second goal. Villa grabbed the final goal of the game on 85 minutes as Spain tore the visitors apart on the counter attack. Belgium have just seven points so can forget the World Cup in South Africa while Spain are on the brink of qualifying and would go to the tournament as one of the favourites.

Messi best in the world right now

Although Kaka remains hopeful he will be crowned the best player in the world again, he acknowledges Lionel Messi deserves that title for now. "He is a player who makes a difference," Kaka said on Thursday, just two days before meeting Messi in a World Cup qualifier between South American rivals Brazil and Argentina. "I would vote for him for all he has done, leading Barcelona to all these titles."

Messi has never won FIFA's Player of the Year Award but he is considered a front-runner for this year's title. Kaka won it in 2007 and has constantly said his goal was to earn the prize again. "It remains my objective to get back there and win it," the Real Madrid midfielder said.

Kaka dismissed a duel with Messi when in the qualifier at Rosario on Saturday. "The media always talks about a duel, that was the case with me and Cristiano Ronaldo, too," Kaka said. "But on the field it's not like that. It will be Brazil vs. Argentina and both teams have several talented players on both sides."

Kaka, who will be making his 70th appearance for Brazil, said he sees himself with a little of the "art" of Argentina coach Diego Maradona and some of the "efficiency" of Brazil coach Dunga.

"I opted for a mix so I can be a complete player," Kaka said. "I'm not a great artist like Maradona was, I know my limitations and that talent alone is not enough. The ideal is to mix art and efficiency." Kaka is one goal shy of tying Romario and Zico as Brazil's leading scorers in World Cup qualifiers with 11 goals.

"It would be special to do it against Argentina," he said. "But there still are four matches left and hopefully I'll be able to reach that mark, which would be nice because I'm not really a true striker." Kaka said he was anxious about Real Madrid's upcoming encounter with former club AC Milan in the group stage of the Champions League.

"It will be the first time I play against a former club, so I don't know how it's going to be," Kaka said. "It's going to be a bit hard to play at San Siro (stadium), where the fans supported me for six years of my life and now they will be cheering against me."

Kaka said Real Madrid has a "very talented" group with "impressive" players in all positions, but it still needs to improve in order to play up to its full potential. "We have to improve a lot," Kaka said. "We need these talented players to become a group and achieve good results."

Brazil leads South American qualifying with 27 points, one more than Chile and three more than Paraguay. Argentina is fourth with 22. The top four automatically secure a spot in next year's World Cup in South Africa. Brazil, a five-time world champion, can clinch a spot if it beats Argentina and Colombia beats Ecuador and Uruguay fails to defeat Peru.

Sania-Francesca in US Open second round

Sania Mirza overcame from her defeat at the singles journey and has emerged victorious in the mixed doubles and women's doubles event of the US Open. The Indian tennis ace and Francesca Schiavone of Italy beat Ekaterina Dzehalevich and Renata Voracova 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 to enter the second round of the women's doubles of the US Open.

The pair will meet Gisela Dulko and Shahar Peer in the second round of the US Open. In the Mixed doubles event, Sania Mirza and Canada's Daniel Nestor beat Akgul Amanmuradova and Ashley Fisher 6-3, 6-1 to enter the second round.

On Wednesday, Sania Mirza's US Open singles campaign wilted in the second round with 10th seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta routing the Indian 6-0, 6-0 in a grossly lop-sided match. Earlier, India's Leander Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy moved into the second round of the US Open men's doubles event with a win over Romanian pair of Victor Hanescue and Grabriel Trifu in first round.