Federer advances into semi-finals at Swiss Open

Newly-crowned Wimbledon champion Roger Federer beat unseeded Czech Radek Stepanek 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 in his second match in Gstaad of Switzerland on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Swiss Open.

The world number one beat big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic 6-7,6-3, 7-6 in a rain-delayed second round clash in the morning before taking on Stepanek in the sunlit afternoon.

Stepanek also played twice on Friday, beating veteran Swiss favourite Marc Rosset 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

After dropping his serve twice to lose the second set, Federer stormed back in the third, making the most of a break in the opening game.

22-year-old Federer will meet Italian qualifier Potito Starace in Saturday's semi-finals. Starace who will be 23 on Wednesday, beat defending champion and fourth seeded Czech Jiri Novak 6-4, 6-3 in the opening quarter-final.

Starace's progress follows a strong showing at the French Open where he reached the third round after beating Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean.

In the other semi-final, unseeded Russian Igor Andreev plays third-seeded German Rainer Schuettler, who beat Spain's Felix Mantilla 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

Andreev beat unseeded Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-3, 6-4.

Source: Xinhua