The 17-time grand slam champion barely broke a sweat as he brushed past the Frenchman 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 at Arthur Ashe Stadium, astonishingly not facing a break point in the whole of the quarter-final.

He took just under a hour and a half to complete his win and will now face compatriot Stan Wawrinka whose passage to the last four was equally comfortable as he saw off Andy Murray's conqueror Kevin Anderson.

Wawrinka took the first two sets 6-4, 6-4 and then didn't lose a game in the third as he proved too strong for the big serving South African.

The other semi-final in the men's draw will see Serbian Novak Djokovic take on defending champion Marin Cilic of Croatia.

In the women's competition, 26th seed Flavia Pennetta reached the semi-finals for a second time after coming from behind to upset number five ranked Petra Kvitova. 

Czech player Kvitova, twice the Wimbledon champion, took the first set 6-4 but Italian Pennetta continued her fine run by closing out the match 6-4, 6-2.

In the last four she will meet Romania's second seed Simona Halep, who won an epic battle with Belarus' double Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka in three sets.

Halep came through 6–3, 4–6, 6–4 and, like Pennetta, will be bidding to reach a first major final.

There is still the possibility of an all Italian final as American Serena Williams meets Roberta Vinci in the other semi.

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