DUBAI: Roger Federer will meet Novak Djokovic in the semifinal round of the Dubai Championships on Friday after beating Lukas Rosol comfortably, 6-2, 6-2.
Djokovic had an even easier time, earning his last-four spot thanks to his quarterfinal opponent Mikhail Youzhny pulling out before the game because of illness.
The Serb, however, had a late Wednesday match in the second round, which he won 6-1, 6-3 over Roberto Bautista-Agut.
The other semifinal will be played between Tomas Berdych and Philipp Kohlschreiber.
While third seed Berdych beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday, Kohlschreiber overcame Malek Jaziri 6-2, 6-3.
Meanwhile, in the doubles, second seeds Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi survived a scare before diffusing the challenge of Mahesh Bhupathi and Denis Istomin in the quarterfinals.
The Indo-Pak Express came back from a set down to beat their unseeded but very experienced rivals 5-7 7-6 (3), 10-7 to move to the semifinals.
After two tight sets, the match tiebreaker was no different as the two pairs were neck and neck after the first 10 points. Bhupathi and Istomin were down by three match points but managed to save one before Bopanna and Qureshi sealed it in style.
Bhupathi was playing only his second tournament of the season, which will also be his last before retirement.
Bopanna and Qureshi will next play Poland’s Tomasz Bednarek and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic. (AP)