By Steven Wine
LONDON (AP) _ The last man to beat Switzerland's Roger Federer at Wimbledon became the latest to lose against him Wednesday.
Federer avenged a loss to Croatian Mario Ancic on the same Centre Court four years ago, winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to reach his ninth consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.
``It was difficult, knowing he was the last guy to beat me here,'' Federer said. ``I remember I was very sad after that match.''
Ancic was an 18-year-old qualifier making his Grand Slam debut when he defeated Federer in the first round in 2002. Federer has since won three straight Wimbledon championships and 46 consecutive grass-court matches. He needs two more victories for his eighth major title.
``I thought I played a terrific match,'' Federer said. ``If I keep up this type of play, it'll be pretty good.''
Only two rain delays _ the first since the opening day of the tournament _ slowed Federer's progress. He has yet to lose a set through five rounds, and his opponent Friday will be the winner of the quarter-final between No. 14-seeded Radek Stepanek and unseeded Swede Jonas Bjorkman.
In the women's semifinals Thursday, 2004 champion Maria Sharapova of Russian will play No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo of France, and No. 2 Kim Clijsters will face No. 3 Justine Henin-Hardenne in the 20th career match between the Belgian rivals.
Sharapova's quarter-final victory Tuesday drew a visit from a streaker, and before the seventh game of Federer's match, two fully clothed men came on to the court carrying rackets and balls. One hit a shot before security guards approached, and the men departed as a smiling Federer watched.
Then his latest grass-court gem resumed.
Federer's shots consistently landed inches from a line, and he countered Ancic's serve-and-volley tactics by being aggressive himself. He came to the net behind one return while Ancic also moved forward, the result being a rare point-blank exchange of volleys that Federer won.
Ancic held his own in baseline rallies, winning 18- and 21-shot exchanges in the first set. But Federer coped well with the six-foot-five Ancic's big serve, hitting some returns nearly as hard.
Federer had 35 winners and 17 unforced errors, and he survived one shaky moment. Serving at 4-3 in the first set, he committed three uncharacteristically sloppy errors, including a double-fault that left him facing a break point for only the seventh time in the tournament.
He escaped and held with a service winner, and in the opening game of the second set, he literally brought Ancic to his knees. The Croatian lunged in vain at the net to intercept a passing shot.
Two points later, Federer passed Ancic again to break for 1-0.
Federer won 30 of 34 service points during one stretch, including 14 in a row. He did lose serve for the second time in the tournament, but the break came only after he took a 3-0 lead in the final set.
He erased another break point with a sharply angled forehand winner and held for 5-3, then closed out the victory with his seventh ace.
