Federer leads at delayed Wimbledon

Jul 2, 2008 - 4:19 PM WIMBLEDON, England (Ticker) -- Roger Federer has won the first two sets against Mario Ancic on Wednesday as he attempts to move into the semifinals at Wimbledon.

Looking to move a step closer to winning his sixth straight title at the All England Club, Federer has had no trouble with a pair of rain delays and holds a 6-1, 7-5 lead over Ancic.

Riding a 38-match winning streak at Wimbledon, the top-seeded Federer is facing the last opponent to defeat him at the year's third major in Ancic, who upended him in the 2002 first round. The winning streak is three shy of the record held by Bjorn Bjorg, whose string of five straight Wimbledon crowns was snapped in 1981.

The only other player to win six straight Wimbledon titles was William Renshaw from 1881-86. However, after claiming his first championship, Renshaw was required to win only one match in the challenge round to retain the title in the following five years.

Federer had absolutely no trouble at the outset Wednesday, firing six aces and committing just two unforced errors in a first set lasted a mere 20 minutes. The Swiss superstar needed 37 minutes to win the second set.

The Federer-Ancic winner will take on either No. 31 Feliciano Lopez of Spain or Russian Marat Safin in the semis. Lopez, a quarterfinalist here for the first time since 2005, is off to a 6-3 lead.

The most intriguing quarterfinal match Wednesday has second-seeded Rafael Nadal taking on No. 12 Andy Murray, a Scotland native who is the overwhelming hometown favorite of the event.

Nadal, who has lost to Federer in the final in each of the last two years, has started to show that he has a grasscourt game to go along with his dominance on clay. The reigning four-time French Open champion has been outstanding over his first four Wimbledon matches this year, winning 12 of 13 sets.

Nadal, 22, is bidding to become the first player since Borg in 1980 to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.

Murray, who rallied from two sets down to win a thriller against eighth-seeded Richard Gasquet on Monday, is bidding for his first semifinal appearance in a Grand Slam.

The final quarterfinal matchup sees a pair of unseeded players in Arnaud Clement of France taking on Rainer Schuettler of Germany.