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Federer survives scare to reach Basel quarters

Roger Federer's serve was inconsistent at times © Getty Images

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Roger Federer survived a wobble to reach the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors in Basel. The defending champion recovered from a shaky second set to beat Jarkko Nieminen 6-1 4-6 6-3.

Federer looked to be firmly on course for a fifth title in his home event when he raced through the opening set. But three double faults left the world No. 4 a double break down in the second as Nieminen grabbed a 4-1 lead before holding his nerve to force the match to a decider.

Federer's serve soon returned to full force in the third set as the Swiss dropped a single point on his first serve, and a single break was sufficient to see the third seed over the line and into the last eight.

Federer's path to the final has opened up following the withdrawal of second seed Andy Murray, who was forced to pull out of his first-round match against Robin Haase with a muscle strain.

Haase took full advantage of Murray's absence, booking his place in the second round with a 6-2 7-6(7) win over lucky loser Marco Chiudinelli, while Lukasz Kubot set up a second-round clash with top seed Novak Djokovic after beating Tobias Kamke 5-7 7-5 6-2.

Andy Roddick got his campaign off to the perfect start with a straightforward opening victory against Tommy Haas. The No. 7 seed sent down 12 aces and denied the German a single break point on his way to a 6-3 6-4 win to set up a second-round showdown with Radek Stepanek, who beat Santiago Giraldo 6-1 6-3.

Janko Tipsarevic's hopes of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals in London were dealt a major blow when the Serbian was forced to retire with a hamstring injury. Tipsarevic was trailing Florian Mayer 5-1 in the opening set when he offered his hand. The Serbian will now have to reach the final at next week's Paris Masters if he is to have any chance of overhauling Mardy Fish in the race for London.

Meanwhile, at the Valencia Open, top seed David Ferrer booked his place in the quarter-finals at his home event with a 6-3 6-3 win over Vasek Pospisil. The Spaniard is a two-time champion in Valencia, and he will meet Nikolay Davydenko in the last eight after the Russian advanced after Nicolas Mahut withdrew for personal reasons.

No. 3 seed Gael Monfils was made to work hard for victory against Spain's Pablo Andujar. The Frenchman cracked 10 aces but was held to just three breaks of serve from a dozen opportunities on his way to a 6-2 7-6(5) victory that sets up a quarter-final clash with Marin Cilic, who progressed after a 6-4 6-4 win over Milos Raonic.

Juan Martin del Potro's bid to qualify for London remained on track after the Argentine needed just 73 minutes to see off the challenge of Dmitry Tursunov 6-4 6-1. The former US Open champion will meet Kevin Anderson in the second round.

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