Federer breezes past Dent

Swiss ace completes 900th match; Azarenka in Kremlin Cup semis

Federer had little problems trampling over his hapless opponent, whose day went from bad to worse after he twisted his ankle in the second set.  The Swiss top seed said he was delighted with his swift workout during his 900th match.

“Things worked better than expected. We never expect scores like 6-1, 6-2 in the men's game because your opponent always has a say with his serve,” Federer, who will next face fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, told reporters.

“If I look back, in '98 I played my first one and 900 matches later I'm here. It's quite crazy but look, I've done so well, I have a great win-loss record and obviously I couldn't ask for a better career.

“Winning my 900th match is obviously better than losing it,” he added after taking his win-loss record to 727-173.

The 16-times Grand Slam champion was also looking forward to facing Wawrinka, with whom he won doubles gold at the Beijing Olympics.

“Obviously we share something incredible, which is the Olympic gold, and I really feel like he's taken a step forward by beating players such as myself at Monaco (in 2009) or (Andy) Murray at the US Open.

“He's been really consistent... and that's why it's a tough draw for me to play here against Stan in the quarters. He's a good friend, it's going to be fair play and I'm sure it's going to be a nice match.”

Azarenka in semis

Second seed Victoria Azarenka reached the Kremlin Cup semifinals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over home favourite Alisa Kleybanova on Friday.

The powerful Belarussian dispatched the seventh-seeded Russian in less than 100 minutes to set up a Saturday clash with Spanish number eight seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who eliminated Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-3.  

The second women's semifinal will be an all-Russian affair after sixth seed Maria Kirilenko overpowered Kazakh teenager Zarina Diyas 6-1, 6-2.

The 268th-ranked Diyas, who turned 17 on Monday, stunned top seed Jelena Jankovic 24 hours earlier but had no answer to the speed and precision of Kirilenko, who will face Vera Dushevina after she beat Russia's Anna Chakvetadze 6-3, 7-6 (7).

On the men's side, fifth-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek becoming the latest casualty after being upset 6-4, 7-6 by Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas, who eliminated top seed Nikolay Davydenko in the previous round.