Federer faces 21-year-old Russian Karen Khachanov in the semi-final on Saturday
Friday 23 June 2017 17:17, UK
Roger Federer continued his assault for a ninth title in Halle after beating defending champion Florian Mayer 6-3 6-4 in the quarter-finals on Friday.
The Swiss will now face 21-year-old Karen Khachanov for a place in Sunday's final - with all the action live on Sky Sports this weekend.
Federer has impressed at the Gerry Weber Open following his shock exit in Stuttgart last week, and the 18-time Grand Slam champion proved too strong for 33-year-old Mayer - who took home the trophy last year after beating Alexander Zverev.
Mayer's record against Federer read seven defeats and no victories ahead of Friday's meeting, and he got off to a poor start in front of his home crowd when dropping his second service game.
Federer then squandered three set points on the Mayer serve at 5-2, but the 35-year-old went on to clinch it moments later with a 46-second service game of his own.
Mayer failed to convert two break points early in the second set, while Federer took his opportunity in the fifth game to edge towards victory.
Federer did have two match points on Mayer's serve in the ninth game, but the German dug deep to prolong the encounter, albeit briefly, with the eight-time champion going on to wrap it up 6-4.
Earlier in the day, Richard Gasquet prevailed 6-1 3-6 6-1 in a topsy-turvy encounter against Dutchman Robin Haase.
Gasquet broke the 28-year-old five times in the match, though he was powerless to prevent Haase from producing a brilliantly improvised trick shot to win a 28-shot rally in the opening set.
Meanwhile, Khachanov was victorious in his battle against close friend and fellow Russian Andrey Rublev.
Khachanov and Rublev, 19, are both future stars of the game, and it was the former who triumphed 7-6 (10-8) 4-6 6-3 in an entertaining match-up.
Zverev faces off against Roberto Bautista-Agut in the evening match at the 12,300-seater Gerry Weber Stadion.
For those on the move, we will have Eastbourne and Wimbledon covered via our website skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation. Who will win The All England Club titles this summer? Have your say...
Sky customers can now upgrade to Sky Sports for an unmissable summer of sport. Upgrade now!
