BASEL (Switzerland), Oct 25: Roger Federer dismissed unseeded Italian Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors on Friday to maintain his bid for a third straight triumph in his hometown tournament.

Federer’s route to the final was also made easier – on paper at least – when his expected semi-final opponent, American fourth seed James Blake, suffered a 6-4, 7-6 defeat by Spain’s Feliciano Lopez.

Lopez, the world No 39, has lost all six of his previous meetings with Federer who has yet to face a seeded player at this week’s tournament.

After stuttering performances in his first two matches this week, the world No 2 was in full control against Bolelli, breaking the Italian twice in the opening set.

Following a further break in the second, Bolelli did well to save three match points on his serve at 5-2 but could do nothing more as Federer took the final game to love, ending the match with two aces and a service winner.

While Federer will be strongly favoured to win last four meeting with Lopez, the other semi-final is harder to call with Argentine Davis Cup team-mates David Nalbandian and Juan Martin Del Potro going head to head.

Second seed Nalbandian booked his place with a 7-6, 6-4 win over German qualifier Benjamin Becker while third seed Del Potro saw off Russian sixth seed Igor Andreev 6-4, 7-5.

The two Argentines have played each other twice on the tour, both times at the Madrid Masters.

Nalbandian, six years older than Del Potro and a place above him at eighth in the world rankings, won their 2007 meeting 6-2, 6-4 before losing last week by a similar 6-4, 6-2 scoreline.

Friday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Quarter-finals: 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Simone Bolelli (Italy) 6-2, 6-3; Feliciano Lopez (Spain) bt 4-James Blake (US) 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) 3-Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) bt 6-Igor Andreev (Russia) 6-4, 7-5; 2-David Nalbandian (Argentina) bt Benjamin Becker (Germany) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.

MURRAY IN LAST FOUR

ST PETERSBURG Russia): Top seed Andy Murray reached the St Petersburg Open semi-finals with a 7-6, 7-5 win over Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic on Friday.

The Briton, who won the $1 million tournament on his debut appearance in Russia’s second city last year, remained on course for his second title in two weeks after clinching the Madrid Masters last Sunday.

Murray had to work hard to overcome a spirited challenge by his unseeded opponent.

After edging the first set on a tiebreak, which he won 7-5, the world No 4 broke Tipsarevic in the third game of the second set only for the 48th-ranked Serbian to break back straight away.

However, Murray was not to be denied as he secured another break in the 11th game before holding his own serve to love to close out the match after two hours and 10 minutes.

In Saturday’s semi-final, he will face third-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, whom he soundly beat in last year’s final.

The world No 16 defeated unseeded German Rainer Schuettler 7-5, 6-2 in the earlier match on centre court.

The second semi-final will feature unseeded Romanian Victor Hanescu and Kazakh qualifier Andrey Golubev.

The 66th-ranked Hanescu eliminated local hope Michail Elgin 6-1, 6-4, ending Russia’s interest in the tournament.

Elgin, world No 145, was the only Russian to reach the last eight after Nikolay Davydenko, Marat Safin, Mikhail Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov all fell by the wayside in earlier rounds.

He had been given a free passage into the quarter-finals after second seed Davydenko pulled out of their second-round match with a wrist injury.

The 150th-ranked Golubev, who upset former world No 1 Safin in the previous round, edged out German qualifier Mischa Zverev 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 to reach his first ATP semi-final.

Results:

Quarter-finals: 1-Andy Murray (Britain) bt Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5; Andrey Golubev (Kazakhstan) bt Mischa Zverev (Germany) 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4); Victor Hanescu (Romania) bt Michail Elgin (Russia) 6-1, 6-4; 3-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) bt Rainer Schuettler (Germany) 7-5, 6-2.

IVANOVIC PREVAILS

LINZ (Austria): Ana Ivanovic reached her second semi-final in two weeks by overcoming seventh seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-4 at the Linz Open on Friday.

The quality of play was worthy of a final although Pennetta was let down by a serve that produced seven double-faults.

The top-seeded Serbian, who last week reached the Zurich Open semi-finals before losing to eventual champion Venus Williams, used her strong forehand to give her an edge but the match remained in the balance until the final ball.

Both players had several chances to break in the first set but it was decided by just one for 4-3 when Ivanovic forced a forehand error from the Italian.

After four breaks of serve in the first six games of the second set Ivanovic broke to lead 4-3 with a fierce crosscourt forehand winner.

Although Pennetta came within two points of recovering the break as Ivanovic served for victory, the Serbian held on to set up a clash with third-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska.

Radwanska comfortably beat fifth seed Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-3, 6-2, mixing up her game well and making intelligent use of the dropshot.

Second-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva also advanced, using her stronger groundstrokes to beat eighth seed Alize Cornet of France 7-5, 6-1.

The win earned Zvonareva the final place in the eight-player field for the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha next month and a semi-final against French sixth seed Marion Bartoli.

The Russian always held the advantage, with Cornet saving break points in three consecutive games. The Frenchwoman then broke to lead 5-4 but dropped the next three games and the set as Zvonareva rose well to the challenge.

For the third match in succession Bartoli had difficulty closing out a contest, dropping the second set after leading 5-1 before beating unseeded Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.

Results:

Quarter-finals: 6-Marion Bartoli (France) bt Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1; 1-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) bt 7-Flavia Pennetta (Italy) 6-4, 6-4; 2-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) bt 8-Alize Cornet (France) 7-5, 6-1; 3-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) bt 5-Nadia Petrova (Russia) 6-3, 6-2.—Reuters