CINCINNATI (Ohio) • Roger Federer and Andy Murray advanced to the semi-finals of the ATP Cincinnati Open in contrasting fashion on Friday, to set up a rematch of their Wimbledon clash.
Federer made quick work of Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in a 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final romp that lasted just over an hour.
Third seed Murray ground out a win against Frenchman Richard Gasquet 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 after two hours, having saved a match point in the third set.
"I fought and gave everything I had, but thankfully it's just been enough in the last two days," said the Scot, who lost to Federer in straight sets in the Wimbledon semi-finals.
Earlier, top seed Novak Djokovic avenged his French Open final loss to Stan Wawrinka by crushing the Swiss 6-4, 6-1.
The Serb, now two wins away from becoming the first player to win all nine ATP Masters titles, needed a mere 63 minutes to dispatch fifth seed Wawrinka.
The Swiss denied Djokovic a chance to complete a career Grand Slam in Paris but was wayward in Cincinnati, finishing with 33 unforced errors and pushing a backhand wide on match point.
Djokovic, who dropped just 12 points on serve, said: "My performance came at the right time against one of my biggest rivals."
The world No. 1 next faces Ukrainian qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych.
In the women's tournament, defending champion Serena Williams reached the semi-finals after a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over sixth-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic.
Williams, who will be chasing a calendar sweep of the four Grand Slams at the US Open, struggled with her serve and was forced to come from behind several times in a rematch of last year's final.
The top seed will next face Ukrainian 14th seed Elina Svitolina, who upset French Open finalist Lucie Safarova 6-4, 2-6, 6-0.
Third seed Simona Halep beat Anna Schmiedlova 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 while Jelena Jankovic defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-2 to complete the women's semi-final line-up. REUTERS,
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
CINCINNATI OPEN
Women's s-finals: StarHub Ch203, 7am
Men's final: StarHub Ch201, tomorrow, 1am
