Toronto - Former world number one Roger Federer strolls into Rogers Cup semi-final after he beat Tomas Berdych 6-3, 5-7, and 7-6 (5). Federer, who was defeated by Berdych in Wimbledon quarter-final last month, worked hard to win after left 2-5 in the third set.
"I was struggling to see the ball in the night - that was tricky going from day to night.
"He also had one service game where he all of a sudden served two double faults and I had the same thing. I just couldn't take advantage of it and he could.
"The third set was lucky. I tried and he got into a good momentum. He started to play better, loosened up a bit and got in a lead, but I just tried to hang with him. Those are the kind of matches I lost earlier on this season so I'm happy this one went my way."
Seventh seed Berdych served for the match at 5-3, but Federer broke to force a tie-break. He seemed to cruise easily as he led 4-0 but Berdych battled back to make it 5-5. However, two-times Rogers Cup champion Federer finally ended the tie-break 7-5 and won the match.
"It was a tough match to go through. I started off great, was doing all the right things," the 16-time Grand Slam winner told Sky Sports 4.
I had some opportunities to defend in the beginning of the second, where he had a couple of break-points early on in two of the service games and then I had really big chances of my own.
"I was struggling to see the ball in the night - that was tricky going from day to night.
"He also had one service game where he all of a sudden served two double faults and I had the same thing. I just couldn't take advantage of it and he could.
"The third set was lucky. I tried and he got into a good momentum. He started to play better, loosened up a bit and got in a lead, but I just tried to hang with him. Those are the kind of matches I lost earlier on this season so I'm happy this one went my way."
Federer paid tribute to his 24-year-old opponent, who is ranked seventh in the world.
"He's got a massive game," said the 29-year-old. "I'm happy for him that he's finally making his move because I thought back when he beat me at the Athens Olympics in 2004 that he was going to make his move in the next couple of years but he was not able to, so I'm happy for him."
Next, Federer will play against second-seeded Novak Djokovic who defeat Jeremy Chardy of France 6-2 and 6-3 in the quarter-final. In the upper half, defending champion Andy Murray moves into the last 4 after rolling David Nalbandian out 6-2, 6-2. The Scot must reach the final in order to maintain his world number four rank.
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal fought hard to conquer Phillip Kohlschreiber 3-6, 6-3, and 6-4 in two hours to secure a place in the semi-final.
pictures by reuters
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