World No. 2 Roger Federer flew into the semi-finals of the Australian Open with a commanding 6-1 6-3 6-3 win over Stanislas Wawrinka.

Wawrinka, who saw off Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals, was broken in as early as his first service game, as Federer took the first set in little less than 30 minutes.

Federer won a doubles gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with Wawrinka as his partner. However, tennis is a professional game, and there was no mercy from Federer. Wawrinka had a chance to break in the sixth game of the second set. However, he couldn't capitalize on the chance and Federer made him pay, taking the next three games on the way to a 2-0 set lead.

Federer broke his fellow swiss in the third game of the final set before cruising along to game, set and match. In the semis, the world number two will face the winner of the game between Tomas Berdych or Novak Djokovic.

What was striking about Federer's game was his serve. He served at 77% for the match, and if he serves as well as he did in the semis, it will take some doing to stop him from winning his 17th grand slam.

After the match, Federer said, The scoreline suggests maybe it was easier than it looked like. I thought it was a pretty tough match. He really got into the match, especially in the second set. But I was able to mix it up well and just keep him on his toes.

I've been in so many quarterfinals, in this situation so many times before, that I have the experience and I have the game to be tricky for him.

On his good friend Wawrinka, he said, I needed a good performance, I've played Stan many times in matches or practice so there were no real secrets out there. The start was crucial, I think it was a bit of a battle for him to get used to the conditions after two matches at night. I'm very happy with the way I played, I was able to mix it up, but it wasn't easy and Stan played an amazing tournament.

When invited to comment on his phenomenal service, he said, When it's clicking it's a good feeling and I don't ask too many questions.

Wawrinka, The Chennai Open champion, hadn't tasted defeat this season but conceded that Federer was at a different level. Roger always had an answer today. He was just too good for me. Roger is always the same, you know he can win this tournament.

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