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Summary Roger Federer reached the Rotterdam Open semi-finals with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) win over Jarkko Nieminen.
Top seed Roger Federer reached the Rotterdam Open semi-finals on Friday with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) win over Jarkko Nieminen, his 13th win in 13 matches against the Finn.The Swiss star will face either Richard Gasquet of France or Russias Nikolay Davydenko for a place in the final.Nieminen, who won the Sydney title in January but was hampered at the Australian Open by an abdominal muscle injury, pushed 16-time Grand Slam winner Federer hard.It was a relief to come through. I played well on my serve but Jarkko made me work, said Federer.Jarkko did his job well, hes a good friend of mine and a good guy, always very fair. Ive got a good record against him but every time he makes you work.Im one more match into the tournament and Im playing better as time goes by.In Fridays other quarter-finals, Tomas Berdych, the Czech second seed, beat Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 6-4 and next meets Argentine third seed Juan Martin Del Potro, who eased past Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-0, 6-1.Berdych completed his 67-minute victory over the 45th-ranked Seppi on a fifth ace of the afternoon at the Ahoy stadium, after breaking the Italian three times to take his indoor record to an unblemished 8-0 this season.But the second-seeded perfectionist was slightly annoyed after losing serve for the only time in the match in the second set, a mistake which he quickly rectified to get the contest back on level-pegging.Berdych next meets Del Potro who has won his last two meetings with the Czech, both played in 2009.Berdych has been playing well for the last two years, according to the ranking, he would be the favourite in our match, said Del Potro, ranked tenth to his opponents seventh.He has confidence and is a danger on this surface, Ill just concentrate on my game.
