NEW YORK, Sept. 8(Xinhuanet) -- Roger Federer, the defending champion and top seed, downed Argentine David Nalbandian 6-2, 6-4,6-1 Thursday night to meet Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals of the U.S. Open.

    Federer was too good to let the match become anything more than a predictable step into the semifinals against Hewitt, a winner earlier in the day in a 2-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen.

    Federer beat Hewitt in the Open final last year and has won their last eight matches, four in Grand Slam events, going back to the 2004 Australian Open.

    "Maybe we had enough men's tennis over the last few days," said Federer, the only semifinalist who did not play five sets in the quarters.

    Federer didn't shy away from saying that he couldn't play much better than he did against the 11th-seeded Nalbandian in a 1-hour,40-minute sweep.

    Asked about the Agassi-Robby Ginepri match on Saturday, Federer said that he's happy to see two Americans in the semifinal.

    "This doesn't happen every day so you better enjoy this moment," said Federer, smilingly. Enditem