Roger Federer enjoyed a routine 6-3, 6-2 win over Germany's Nicolas Kiefer on Friday to reach the semifinals of his hometown tournament in Basel.
"It wasn't easy today," Federer insisted after winning the final game to love.
"My serve wasn't helping me out much with only the one ace near the end. But I was playing pretty solidly from the baseline and I hope I can continue that way for the rest of the week."
The world number one will face either Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych or towering Croatian Ivo Karlovic in Saturday's semifinals.
The other semifinal will be contested by unseeded pair Jarkko Nieminen and Marcos Baghdatis.
Nieminen, the Finnish world number 29, pulled off a 6-3 7-5 win over Chilean second seed Fernando Gonzalez while Cypriot world number 24 Baghdatis downed French eighth seed Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2 7-6.
Ljubicic stunned
Ivan Ljubicic stumbled in his bid to reach the season-ending Masters Cup when he was upset 7-5, 6-7, 7-5 by Colombian Alejandro Falla in the quarterfinals of the Lyon tournament on Friday, reports Reuters.
Falla, who is more used to playing at Challenger level, meets last year's finalist Marc Gicquel for a place in Saturday’s semifinal after the Frenchman defeated Argentine qualifier Diego Hartfield 7-5, 6-3.
Other results (prefix denotes seeding, quarters): Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt Olivier Rochus (Bel) 6-3, 6-2; Marc Gicquel (Fra) bt Diego Hartfield (Arg) 7-5, 6-3.
Chakvetadze upset
Top seed Anna Chakvetadze was humbled 6-1, 6-0 by Swiss left-hander Patty Schnyder in the quarterfinals of the Linz Open, reports Reuters.
Chakvetadze, who this week qualified for the season-ending WTA Championships which begin in Madrid on November 6, looked flat and barely competed against an aggressive opponent who took full advantage of the freedom she was given.
Second seed Daniela Hantuchova was stretched by Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko before edging through 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Marion Bartoli overwhelmed Austrian Tamira Paszek 6-2, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals.
Fifth-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova defeated Austria's Yvonne Meusburger 6-3, 6-1.
