• Stockholm Open

Federer battles past Wawrinka

Roger Federer was not at his best but still proved too strong for Stanislas Wawrinka © Getty Images

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Roger Federer was forced to dig deep to secure a place in the semi-finals of the Stockholm Open with a 2-6 6-3 6-2 win over Stanislas Warwinka.

Federer was somewhat subdued in the first set and his fellow Swiss took advantage, breaking twice to race through the opening set. The former world No. 1 awoke from his slumber in the second set as he broke on two occasions to level the match.

The pair know each other's game very well and the third set began in cagey fashion, before Federer worked a break in the fifth game. A second break of served followed soon after and Federer wrapped up the match, the 50th win of his season, on his own serve.

The crowd in Sweden were left stunned and disappointed as home favourite Robin Soderling was sent spinning out of the tournament by Florian Mayer.

The No. 2 seed was strongly fancied to go all the way in his home tournament, but he never recovered from losing the first set in a tiebreak. The opening set was a tense affair with no breaks of serve and it went Mayer's way after an epic breaker. The German took great confidence from taking the opening set as he claimed two breaks of serve in the second set to secure a 7-6(8) 6-1 success.

"He played better than me today, while I couldn't reach my usual standard," Soderling said. "I couldn't find my timing today. At the same time he played really well. It's always disappointing to lose."

James Blake's upturn in form ground to a halt at the quarter-final stage, as the American won just two games in his 6-0 6-2 defeat at the hands of Jarko Niemenen, while Ivan Ljubicic was pushed the distance by qualifier Ivan Dodig before securing a 4-6 6-2 6-4 win over his fellow Croatian.

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