Second seeded Roger Federer plays Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny in the semi-final at the ATP Halle on Saturday.
World No. 3 Federer needed three sets and two tie-breakers to defeat the Canadian fifth seed Milos Raonic on Friday. He defeated the the Canadian 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3) to reach the Halle semi-finals.
Raonic smashed 25 aces, but it was Federer’s serve that bailed him out of trouble and he won 83 per cent of his second serve points, to Raonic’s 53 per cent success rate. Federer needed a minute short of two hours to enter the semi-finals.
Earlier, Federer, who has won the tournament five times, had a bye in the first round before he brushed aside Florian Mayer 6-4, 7-5.
Up against him will be Youzhny, who defeated Radek Stepanek 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in his quarter-final match. The Russian converted only three of the 15 break-points he had but that included one crucial point in the final set which gave him the break.
Youzhny, who was on court for almost two and a half hours, is bidding for his second title of the season. Earlier he had won the Zagreb double in February, beating Lukas Lacko for his eighth ATP World Tour trophy and partnering Marcos Baghdatis to the doubles crown.
The Roger Federer v Mikhail Youzhny match is the first at the Centre Court to begin at 12.15 noon.
