Top seed Roger Federercontinued his steady progress at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships as he reached the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour 500 hard-court tennis tournament Thursday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over UkrainianSergiy Stakhovsky.
The Swiss has been largely untroubled in his pursuit of a fifth title in Dubai this week and, despite dropping serve for the first time in the tournament, dispatched the No. 43-ranked Stakhovsky in 72 minutes. He saved eight of the nine break points he faced and capitalised on three of the nine chances he created.
“I try not to waste any energy,” said Federer of his run through. “Most important thing is to come through. Doesn't matter if it's three times 7-6 in a row to get to the semi. At the end of the day, you want to give yourself chances to win the trophy, and that's what I'm doing. I think I didn't have any let's say completely easy matches here. I've always had to be very focused.”
The 29-year-old Federer has a 28-3 record in Dubai after winning three successive titles from 2003-2005, reaching the final in 2006, and lifting the trophy again in 2007. He is chasing his 68th tour-level title this week and his second of the season after triumphing in Doha (d. Davydenko) in the first week. He followed with a semi-final showing at the Australian Open.
In the semi-finals Federer will face Richard Gasquet, who came through an all-French contest with Gilles Simon 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in just over two hours to reach his first ATP World Tour semi-final since Metz in September 2010.
While the 24-year-old Gasquet won his first meeting with Federer in a breakthrough performance at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in 2005, he has since lost their past seven meetings, most recently at the BNP Paribas Masters last November.
“I know I have to play my game, not to try to play too good,” said Gasquet. “When I played him in Bercy last year, I wanted to play very good, to play all the lines, and I made a lot of mistakes. So I just have to try to play my game. For sure he's the favourite for the match.”
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