BASEL: Roger Federer showed his lethal best when it mattered most as he beat Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) on Friday to reach the Swiss Indoors semifinals.
Federer, a five-time champion in the city of his birth, played a second-set tiebreaker to perfection against the 22-year-old.
Seventeen-time major winner Federer also strengthened his position for a place in the eight-man World Tour Finals starting in London in 10 days.
He stands provisional seventh as he heads into a Saturday semifinal with Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who beat Ivan Dodig 7-6 (13/11), 6-4. Federer could qualify for London if he wins a sixth title in Basel on Sunday, according to ATP calculations.
The Swiss great improved his record to 18-1 against players born in the 1990s, with his only loss in that category coming in Hamburg against Argentine Federico Delbonis this year.
Top-seeded Del Potro reaches final
Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina set up a potential Swiss Indoors title rematch against Roger Federer by beating Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the semifinals on Saturday.
The top-seeded del Potro came back strongly after a shaky spell when he let the second set slip away, and brushed aside the 65th-ranked Frenchman in the decider. “I made a lot of mistakes in the end of the second set,” the fifth-ranked del Potro said. (Agencies)
