The World No. 2 edged the first set in a tie-break after 54 minutes, and converted on his fifth break point opportunity of the match to go up 2-0 in the second. He broke Dimitrov for a second time and claimed victory after one hour and 29 minutes. Federer saved all four break points he faced, hit 29 winners to Dimitrov's 25, and won 20 of 31 points at the net.
“I thought the level was high throughout for both of us,” said Federer. “I think Grigor served very well in the first, he didn’t give me very many opportunities. It was a tough end to the set, with me saving set points and then the tie-break stayed close at the end, but I’m very pleased to come through there. I think overall it was a very good performance and I played my best tennis of the week so far.”
Federer has a chance of finishing as the year-end World No. 1, and can close the gap between him and Novak Djokovic in the ATP Race To London to less than 500 points by winning the Basel title this week. Dimitrov, currently No. 11 in the Race standings, was looking to boost his qualifying bid for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
The 33-year-old Federer will take an 11-1 ATP Head2Head record into his next match against 35-year-old Ivo Karlovic, including a victory in the 2007 Basel semi-finals. The 6’11” Croat advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 win over German Benjamin Becker.
The eighth seed struck 19 aces and won 86 per cent of his first-serve points to advance in 76 minutes. “It’s great to be here again in the semi-finals,” said Karlovic. “I was holding my serve well against Benjamin. All in all it was a great match.”
Date: 24th October 2014, Source: ATP
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