Federer Reaches Stockholm Final

World number two Roger Federer overcame an early break of serve to defeat Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 6-2 in the semi-finals of the Stockholm Open on Saturday.

The Swiss will meet German Florian Mayer, who beat Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 4-6 6-4 7-6, in Sunday's final.

The big-hitting Ljubicic started strongly before Federer broke back to take the first set on a tie-break.

He then gained an early advantage in the second when a lucky bounce off the net cord helped him convert a break point.

Federer said he had enjoyed a slice of luck but added he had felt his opponent had tried to force his game too much and had started to make too many errors.

"(In the first set) I had a tough service game that didn't really work well. I missed a couple of shots, next thing you know you're down break point.

"I missed another stupid forehand because I was still lacking rhythm and that's how it goes against big servers.

"He was serving well when he had to, doing all the right things and he really made it hard for me. He gave me a couple of chances, I was able to take them and then played a really good tie-breaker."

In the other semi-final, Mayer saved five set points on his serve in the first set before Nieminen finally converted the sixth.

Mayer, ranked 47th in the world, then upped his game to take the second and set up a tense climax in the third.

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Big Three Reach Shanghai Semis

Federer Invalidates Soderling

Shanghai (10/15) - Former world number one Roger Federer who was seeded 3, displayed a tremendous performance as he upset fifth seed Robin Soderling of Sweden with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph.

Federer scored 4 aces in the end and finally won the 53-minute match with a jumping smash. Next he will play second-seeded Novak Djokovic who overthrew Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2 and 6-3.



"I don't think Robin had his best day," Federer told Sky Sports. "You'd think a top-five player doesn't have days like these, but they do happen.

"In best-of-three-set matches, things can get ugly rather quickly.

"I didn't expect a result like this, but I'll take it any day."

Asked whether he felt more motivated to take on Djokovic in the wake of his defeat at Flushing Meadows, he added: "I'm not much of a revenge guy, but I like playing against the top guys.

"[But] after the US Open, the fans are looking for a rematch."

Meanwhile, Jurgen Melzer of Austria failed to continue impressive victory after he surrendered to unseeded Juan Monaco. Melzer, who defeated top seed Rafael Nadal in the third round, was crushed in tough three sets, 6-7(6), 7-5, and 6-3. 41-ranked Monaco will face British Andy Murray in the semi-final.

Monaco will play British Andy Murray in the last four. Murray conquered Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 6-2.

"He struggled a little bit on his serve and wasn't serving as big as usual, so I managed to get into a lot of the return games," said Murray.

"I served well and didn't give him any chances on my serve. I was hitting the ball really cleanly from the back of the court, so it was a good start," he added.


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