Federer Forges Into SFs
Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer downed Guillermo Coria 6-4, 7-6 (3) in a rematch of last year's final to reach the semifinals of Masters Series Hamburg. Federer will next play Nikolay Davydenko, who advanced with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over Filippo Volandri.
For the second time in a month, Frenchman Richard Gasquet has reached a Masters Series Semifinal as he defeated fellow qualifier Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-2. He advances to play another qualifier, Belgian Christophe Rochus, who reached his first career Masters Series semifinal with a 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 win over Juan Ignacio Chela.
In doubles action, two of the top three seeds were ousted on Friday, as Llodra/Santoro took out No. 1 Knowles/Nestor, and they will play Paes/Zimonjic who defeated No. 3 Bryan/Bryan. No. 2 Bjorkman/Mirnyi will play Ljubicic/Ancic in the other semifinal.