Roger Federer stepped up his grass game as the start of Wimbledon looms, holding off Australian Matt Ebden 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 in their quarter-final at the ATP Halle tournament on Friday. With his world number one ranking on the line, the Swiss is sparing no effort to make sure he lifts a tenth title at the event on Sunday.
Failure to win the grass title would send rival Rafael Nadal back to the top spot. "I felt I had to push myself today," Federer said. "It didn't come as easy as it did in other matches.
"But you can't allow that to be frustrating. I can take away a lot of positives. "Now that I'm in the semi-finals I can see the light at the end of the tunnel; you either lose in the semis or have two more matches max."
"That allows me to find extra energy." "I'm happy I played well when I had to," Federer said. "I'm happy I got through somehow."
The first set on Friday was decided in a tiebreaker while the Swiss had to twice recover from a break down in the second to secure a tight victory in 88 minutes.