Roger Federer reacts after his victory over Sweden's Robin Soderling Wednesday night at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. (Charles Krupa/Associated Press)

One of the windiest days in U.S. Open history had no effect on five-time champion Roger Federer Wednesday night in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

The No. 2 seed made short work of fifth-seeded Robin Soderling, powering by the Swede 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 and advancing to the semifinal.

Federer, a five-time U.S. Open champion, will face No. 3 seeded Novak Djokovic in a semifinal rematch from last year.

Djokovic, who lost a tight three-set match to Federer in 2009, also had little problem getting past Frenchman Gael Monfils 7-6 (2), 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday.

Federer used an overpowering serve and pinpoint ground strokes to finish off Soderling.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion served up 18 aces with surprising accuracy against wind conditions that played havoc to the other tennis players throughout Wednesday.

"I've been practising my serve a whole lot, for my whole career. If I can't serve in the wind, I've got a problem, you know?" the Swiss great said after the match. "You could probably wake me up at two in the morning, or four in the morning, and I could hit a few serves."

The victory was sweet revenge for Federer, who lost to Soderling during the French Open semifinal this year.

Soderling's victory in Paris ended Federer's incredible streak of reaching the semifinals at a Grand Slam a record 23 times.

Djokovic, the No. 3 player in the world, defeated Monfils for the fifth consecutive time.

"These are the worst conditions so far in this tournament," said the Serb. "But I was really focused when I needed to be and I'm just so happy to come through in straight sets."

While he had his serve broken to fall behind 4-2 in the opening set, Djokovic rallied to win the first set tiebreaker 7-2.

He then easily rolled past Monfils in the next two sets.

The 2008 Australian Open champion now awaits the winner of the match between five-time U.S. Open winner Roger Federer and Robin Soderling later Wednesday.

It was Federer who knocked out Djokovic in a hard-fought three-set match during last year's semifinal round.

Top seed Wozniacki advances to semis

On the women's side, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark secured her place in the semifinal after defeating Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-2, 7-5.

Wozniacki, last year's U.S. Open finalist, overcame 18 unforced errors in an economical victory over her Slovakian opponent.

"It felt like we were playing in a hurricane or something," Wozniacki said of the wind. "But it was the same for both players. I'm happy to get through."

In order to reach the final in New York, the Dane will have to get by Vera Zvonareva of Russia, who advanced with a straight sets victory over Kaia Kanepi.

The No. 7 seed beat the Estonian by scores of 6-3, 7-5 at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

Kanepi, who has now failed in three attempts to reach a Grand Slam final, was done in by her serve. The No. 31 seed was broken seven times by Zvonareva.

Swirling winds wreaked havoc with serve tosses, and the winner herself lost serve on four occasions.

With the match tied 5-5 in the final set, Kanepi squandered two break chances of her own. Zvonareva won the game and broke Kanepi's serve to seal the result.

The result continues a career best year for Zvonareva, who turned 26 on Tuesday. She reaches the semifinals at the American Grand Slam for the first time ever, in a summer that included a Wimbledon runner-up finish.

With files from The Associated Press