Federer through to last four in Madrid
Reigning champion and top seed Roger Federer moved into the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters on Friday night with victory over Feliciano Lopez.
It was not straightforward for the world number one against the Spanish wildcard, but Federer was still too classy for his 26-year-old opponent as he clamed a 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 win in one hour and 36 minutes.
Federer had won all five of his previous meetings with Lopez, with the most recent coming in the last 16 at the US Open in August, but the Swiss ace needed a tie-break to take the first set against the battling Spaniard.
The second set was going with serve as well until Federer stepped up a gear in the latter stages to wrap up the win in double-quick time, breaking Lopez to love in the ninth game and then holding serve without dropping a point in the decisive 10th.
Federer, who is chasing his seventh singles title of the year, will now play the winner of the quarter-final tie between Nicolas Kiefer and Fernando Gonzalez - the player the Swiss beat in last year’s final.
The other semi-final pitches third seed Novak Djokovic against David Nalbandian.
Argentinian Nalbandian knocked out second seed Rafael Nadal earlier on Friday with a 6-1 6-2 scoreline while Serbia’s Djokovic secured a 7-6 (7/2) 6-2 win over Mario Ancic.
