Federer gets to Swiss semis; Djokovic rallies

Federer overcame Evgeny Korolev 6-3 6-2 and will face unseeded compatriot Marco Chiudinelli, a 6-1 6-3 winner over Frenchman Richard Gasquet, in Saturday's semi-final.

Wawrinka, the other home quarter-finalist, won the first set against the world number three and was a break up in the second. But the Serb broke back, won the second set tiebreak and eased through the third to win 3-6 7-6 6-2. Djokovic will face fifth seed Radek Stepanek who beat fourth seed Marin Cilic 4-6 6-3 6-3. Federer, aiming for a fourth successive title in his hometown tournament, broke serve twice in each set against the world number 58, who was never really in the match.

But Djokovic broke straight back and went on to win the tiebreak 7-5. That took the wind out of the Wawrinka's sails and the Serb rushed through the third set.

“It was a real test,” said Djokovic, who thrashed Jan Hernych 6-0 6-0 on Thursday. “The first two matches I played here were without a lot of rhythm. “He controlled the match most of the time until the end of the second set, then things changed, I got a lot of confidence and the third set was a different story.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email