WIMBLEDON - ROGER Federer neutralised Ivo Karlovic's huge serves on Wednesday to reach the Wimbledon semifinals and move a step closer to a record 15th Grand Slam championship.

In a match featuring short points and few rallies, Federer conjured up a few great returns to break the 2.08 meter Croatian twice and secure a 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (3) victory on another sunbaked day at the All England Club.

Federer, closing in on his sixth Wimbledon title, reached his 21st consecutive semifinal at a Grand Slam tournament and extended his winning streak to 17 matches with another vintage performance on his favorite Centre Court.

'I love the record I have of reaching so many semifinals in Grand Slams in a row - 21 is quite a number,' Federer said. 'It shows how consistent I've been.'

It was Federer's ninth win in 10 matches against Karlovic, who was playing in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Karlovic served 23 aces to raise his tournament total to 160, but it was Federer who never faced a break point in this match.

The second-ranked Swiss star won 74 of 85 points on serve and was taken to deuce only once, in the sixth game of the third set. Federer got out of that jam with a 208 kph service winner and a 206 kph ace.

'It's difficult because there's not really any baseline rallies on his serve or on my serve,' Federer said. 'You expect a tough scoreline all the time. It's not easy to break him. I'm very happy to break him twice and win the match.'

The statistics told the story: Federer had 39 winners and only seven unforced errors, to 29 winners (almost all on serve) and 17 errors for Karlovic.

Federer's next opponent will be Germany's Tommy Haas, who upset fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic 7-5, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3 to advance to his first Wimbledon semifinal. -- AP