Novak Djokovic will take on Olivier Rochus for a place in the final of the Gerry Weber Open after a routine win over Jurgen Melzer.
World number three books Rochus date in Halle
Serbia's Novak Djokovic will take on Olivier Rochus for a place in the final of the Gerry Weber Open after a straight-sets success over Jurgen Melzer in Halle.
The world number two had to save five match points before edging past Florent Serra in his last outing, but had no such worries as he romped to a 6-1 6-4 victory over the seventh seed in 66 minutes.
Djokovic is now the only seed left in the tournament and he will play Belgian qualifier Rochus for a place in the final after he beat Benjamin Becker 6-7 6-3 6-3 on Friday.
"It's going to be interesting to play him again," said Djokovic, who lost his two previous matches against Rochus, both in 2005. "He has a great game on grass, he's got a great touch and he moves very well.
"He played the qualifying rounds so he's got a few matches on grass already.
"I felt I was in control most of the match, I moved better today. Maybe on paper I am the favorite to win this tournament, but the other guys are also playing great tennis and I don't want to put myself under extra pressure.
"It's a quite a relief, after two not very convincing performances in the first two rounds."
Last year's runner-up Philipp Kohlschreiber is also through to the last four after he overcame fellow German Andreas Beck 3-6 6-3 6-3.
Having hit 10 aces past Russia's Dmitry Tursunov in the second round, Kohlschreiber went on to smash 17 past Beck as he recovered from losing the first set.
Kohlschreiber will now face former world number two Tommy Haas in Saturday's all-German semi-final as he bids to win his first grasscourt tournament on tour having already enjoyed successes on hardcourt and clay.
Haas, who was ranked second in the world in 2002, enjoyed a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 quarter-final win over compatriot Mischa Zverev.
