Roger Federer took a swipe at his fellow players and defended Wimbledon's under-fire officials after easing into the semi-finals.

The world's best player and four-times champion believes stars such as likely final opponent Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic should not criticise organisers for scheduling problems caused by the worst weather at the tournament in 25 years.

Both Nadal and Djokovic led the criticism this week, saying Wimbledon should have played on the middle Sunday. John McEnroe, meanwhile, has accused schedulers of "bungling".

But Federer said: "I don't think it's the right way to go after the tournament.

"It rains a lot here sometimes so we do have that problem, but Wimbledon is doing so many great things next to it.

"They have increased prize money. They're building a new roof over Centre Court. They built the Millennium building in 2000. We're not upset when they do those things.

"When it rains once and we have a scheduling problem I don't think we should start going after the club right away. I disagree with the players and what they said."

Federer took his place in the semi-finals with a four-set victory over Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero which keeps him on course to equal the five successive Wimbledon titles of Bjorn Borg on Sunday.