Federer reaches semis

Roger Federer sealed his place in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 victory over Swedish fourth seed Robin Soderling yesterday.

Federer will top Group B after producing his third dominant display at this year’s prestigious end-of-season event at London’s O2 Arena.

Soderling has no hope of qualifying due to the tournament’s complex rules involving the percentage of games won by each player.

Federer, bidding to win the title for the fifth time, said: “I’m happy I was able to come out and play a good, tough, solid match against a player who I thought was in good shape.

“I purposely didn’t want to know the calculations before the match. Last year that played on my mind a little bit.

“I’m happy that all three matches were straight sets wins with no wasted energy. I’m playing real well. I’m through to the semis. So it’s all real good right now.”

Soderling was left to rue a crucial error that allowed Federer to take the first set.

“At first I was pretty sure it was going out. But as soon as I let it go, I felt like this one is going much closer to the line than I expected,” he said.

“Of course, it went in. It was a little bit unlucky but it’s my fault.”

The Tour Finals’ round-robin system forces every player to reach for the calculator to work out the various permutations that could see them through.

For Federer at least, the equation was relatively simple. The 29-year-old just needed to win one set to be guaranteed top spot in the group, while Soderling’s potential path to the last four was rather more headache-inducing.

After a disappointing season, which saw him lose the French Open and Wimbledon titles he won in 2009 as well as the number one ranking, Federer has been in rare form over this week at the O2 Arena.

It took the six-time Wimbledon champion just three games to secure the first break as Soderling self-destructed with three successive unforced errors.

Soderling’s baseline barrage kept Federer off balance in the eighth game and forced the Swiss into some uncharacteristic errors which allowed the world number four to break back.

But Federer soon regained his composure quickly enough to ensure the set went to a tie-break.

A sublime forehand from Federer secured two set-points in the breaker and he converted the second with a blocked backhand that Soderling opted to leave, only to turn and watch in horror as it clipped the line.

That misjudgment was enough to book Federer’s semi-final place but Soderling was still fighting for his tournament life and he missed a chance to get back in the match when he squandered two break points at the start of the second set.

Federer kept coming at Soderling and secured the only break of the second set with a tremendous whipped forehand winner before serving out the match.

Other results: Murray bt Ferrer 6-2 6-2; (Played on Wednesday) Nadal bt Djokovic 7-5 6-2.