Ferrer, Djokovic roll into U.S. Open semis

Spaniard David Ferrer and Serbian Novak Djokovic each eased into the semifinal round of the 2007 U.S. Open with straight-set quarterfinal wins on Thursday.

The 15th-seeded Ferrer handled 20th-seeded Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. He will next face the third-seeded Djokovic, who downed 17th-seeded Spaniard Carlos Moya 6-4, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1, in the semifinal round on Saturday.

Ferrer closed out Chela with a big ace down the middle of the court after 2 hours, 4 minutes of tennis. The speedy Spaniard wound up with 37 winners, zero double faults and broke Chela's serve on five occasions en route to his first- ever Grand Slam semifinal. His only other major quarterfinal appearance came at Roland Garros two years ago.

The 25-year-old Ferrer is a two-time titlist on the ATP this season, with victories coming in Auckland and Bastad. He stunned three-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal in four sets here on Tuesday night.

The 20-year-old Djokovic was tested in the first two sets by Moya, needing to break his counterpart's serve in the final game of the first set to escape with the stanza. He then needed to rally from 6-5 down in the second set- tiebreak.

Moya reached the U.S. Open semis back in 1998. He's a former French Open champ and Aussie Open runner-up

Djokovic has now reached the semifinal round in the last three majors. He is the only remaining player to have ever beaten world No. 1 Swiss Roger Federer, who will face fourth-seeded Russian grinder Nikolay Davydenko on Saturday.

The 11-time major titlist Federer is the reigning three-time U.S. Open champ and also currently holds the Australian Open and Wimbledon crowns. He is 9-0 for his career against Davydenko, 7-0 versus Ferrer and 4-1 against Djokovic.