Federer sets up all Swiss semi-final with Wawrinka

Two Swiss men will meet in the semi-final of the US Open. Five-times champion Roger Federer will try to make sure Stan Wawrinka doesn't add the Flushing Meadows crown to his Grand Slam trophy cabinet.

Stan Wawrinka is seeking his first US Open title Reuters/Eduardo Munoz

Federer will meet his close friend Wawrinka in the last four after both enjoyed straight sets victories on Wednesday night.

Second seed Federer brushed aside of the 12th seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-3 6-1. The deconstruction took 87 minutes.

Wawrinka nullified the big serving South African Kevin Anderson 6-4 6-4 6-0.

It’s 34-year-old Federer’s 10th appearance in the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows. “At my age to run through five opponents in the way that I have isn’t normal. But in some ways I expect it of myself to come out and play well. I don’t feel as old as I am, I still feel quite young so it’s nice to get the reward of all the hard work.”

Federer and Wawrinka met in the quarter-finals at the French Open in June. Wawrinka won it to register only his third victory over Federer in 19 meetings.

Wawrinka admitted that he had used one of Federer’s tactics while playing Anderson.

He repeatedly came into the net after returning the second serve of the South African. "I'm not trying to do what Roger is doing,” said Wawrinka. “But the reason why I’ve improved so much over the past few years is because I'm looking a lot at the top guys such as Novak [Djokovic], Roger and Rafa [Nadal].

"We all see what Roger is doing right now. It's quite impressive. He's doing it against everybody. I saw him play also against Anderson in Cincinnati, and I was surprised. But it's actually a good way against Anderson to stand nearer to the court than behind, because you completely cut the time from him."

While the Federer v Wawrinka showdown means there will be a Swiss man in the final, the other semi will assure a place for an eastern European. The Serbian top seed Djokovic, seeking his third Grand Slam of the year, takes on the Croatian defending champion Marin Cilic.