ROGER Federer has warned that Novak Djokovic faces all the pressure in their French Open semi-final on Friday night.
Swiss Federer, yet to drop a set at Roland Garros, said the expectations on his Serbian opponent are high, with the No.1 ranking Djokovic's for the taking and pressure to continue his winning streak, which stands at 43 matches, 41 of them this year.
"I think there's less at stake for me than for him," Federer said.
"He's got a lot of things going on. Sure, I'd love to be again in a Grand Slam final because I haven't achieved that in a few slams.
"But nothing major for me as long as I keep on giving myself chances. I think I'm playing really well again. Even I thought during the clay court season I wasn't playing poorly. I had some tough losses.
"But now I can really play the way I was hoping to play here at the French Open."
Federer cruised into the semi-finals with a 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7-3) win against French No.9 seed Gael Monfils.
Djokovic had an even easier path to the semis, when his quarter-final opponent, Fabio Fognini pulled out with a leg injury, handing the world No.2 four days off.
No.3 seed Federer, also no stranger to winning streaks, said: "Obviously a big question remains, 'How long can you keep it up?'.
"You would just like to, you know, not talk about it. Just go out there and do it over and over again.
"I'm sure it's been tricky for him, but he's been doing a great job. Now maybe the streak is less at stake in some ways, because it's more of a big match against me so it's easier to focus just on playing me instead of the whole situation.
"I think the No.1 situation is the big one right now for him and not so much the streak. But it all goes hand in hand. It's going to be an interesting day."
Djokovic has only to make the final to take over as No.1 from Rafael Nadal.
ANDY Murray secured a stirring fourth-round victory against Viktor Troicki of Serbia yesterday, resuming at two-sets-all after their match was suspended by fading light the previous evening.
The fourth-seeded Scot, who partially tore a tendon in his ankle during the third round, won 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5.
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