Federer Advances to Paris Masters Semifinals – Stepping on court over two hours later than the scheduled 8:30pm start time, Roger Federer made relatively quick work of Kei Nishikori Friday night in Paris. The Swiss maestro needed 1 hour 19 minutes to defeat the 29-year-old from Japan, 6-4 6-4, advancing to the semifinals of the Paris Masters. The 37-year-old Swiss served seven aces to two double faults, and despite putting just 52% of his first serves into play, he won 97% of points on his first serve. The 2011 champion saved the only break point he faced and converted two out of three break point opportunities. With the win, Federer sets up a clash against Novak Djokovic, who defeated Marin Cilic earlier in the day, 4-6 6-2 6-3.
“I want to play well. I want to try to win, obviously. I know he’s on a hot streak so I think it’s going to be tough. But nevertheless I think I’ve got nothing to lose,” Federer said. “I also like this type of surface, I like playing indoors. Indoors has treated me very well, winning Rotterdam and Basel. I think I’m ready to do something tomorrow, but clearly I have to play a lot of good tennis tomorrow because those are the question Novak asks of you. It’s not just maybe a serve here or there or a return here or there, he’s going to ask the question time and time again because he defends very well and he plays well on the offense and plus he’s serving consistently well at the moment so I think it’s going to be tough.”
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“I think for me it was really important to go through two sets and not get broken and play very consistently and solid and not make too many wild shots on my own service games and just play solid and I think I was able to deliver that in a very nice way today. Kei is one of the best returners in the game and if you allow him to come into your service games too frequently, he’s going to really hurt you. I think I was able to avoid that and then winning straight sets is always nice. It saves energy for not only what is to come tomorrow or the following week, but for your career. That’s why you could be more successful if you win quick matches. I’ve done that well throughout my career and it was nice to get one again tonight.”