He advanced with ease Friday, winning his 62nd consecutive grass-court match by beating the French veteran Marc Gicquel, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1, in the third round.
Nor has he played on grass since Wimbledon last year, whereas Federer bounced back from his Roland Garros misery by winning his fifth consecutive grass-court title at Halle, without dropping so much as a service game.
His record-extending 46th consecutive win on grass lasted under two hours but was prolonged by the loss of two and a half hours to rain before the Swiss ace clinched a ninth successive Grand Slam semi-final.
If Federer's first-round match on Monday was all about the number six – his 60th consecutive win on grass leaving six men between him and his sixth Wimbledon title – Nadal v Beck revolved around the number two.
This time he won 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 in 1hr 41 min. It was Federer's 36th consecutive victory on grass since 2003, and one that left Roddick, the US Open champion two years ago, feeling like a man beating his head against a brick wall.
It was Federer's 47th consecutive victory on grass and he is now bearing down on a second record held by his idol Bjorn Borg, who in 1976 became the only man in the Open era to win Wimbledon without dropping a set.
If the word imperious can ever be applied to a man in a cardie, then imperious is what Roger Federer was yesterday in despatching the Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, therecordingrding his 60th consecutive win on grass.
Smith believes passionately Scotland should have the opportunity to stage more of the sport's big events, and with five consecutive weeks of grass-court tournaments in England in the run up to the quarter-final, Glasgow may again prove a compelling option.
Definition of the pollen season and peak pollen season: The pollen season was defined as the first day of 3 consecutive days with a grass pollen count above 30 grass pollen grains/m of air to the last day before 3 consecutive days with a pollen count under 30 grains/m.
This was his 36th successive victory on grass and his 21st consecutive victory in a final.
