Friday 10 June 2016 15:25, UK
Roger Federer came through another testing workout in a quarter-final win over Florian Mayer at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.
The Swiss top seed showed no signs of the troublesome back injury that forced him out of the French Open as he edged out the German over two tie-breaks to seal a 7-6 7-6 win.
This latest victory added another landmark achievement for Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam winner, who moved ahead of Ivan Lendl into second place on the all-time list for ATP career match wins with 1,072.
The 34-year-old had come through a three-set match against Taylor Fritz earlier this week and his fitness could be further tested in a semi-final against exciting Austrian youngster Dominic Thiem.
Federer was broken in the second set, but quickly broke back to level and stubbornly defended three set points while serving at 5-6.
He then raced into a 6-1 lead in the tie-breaker before a fizzing forehand pass secured victory.
Third seed Thiem had earlier been made to work for his three-set win over Mikhail Youzhny.
The Russian took the opening set, but Thiem battled back to complete a 3-6 6-4 7-5 win, reaching another semi-final following his appearance in the last four at the French Open.
