(Photo : atpworldtour.com)


Top seeded Roger Federer disposed Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov in two straight sets 7(7)-6(4) 6-2 and has advanced to the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors in Basel on Friday.



Both Federer and Dimitrov went head-to-head in the first set as they held on to their serves and forced to go into a tie-break where the four-time tournament champion edged out the 23-year-old Dimitrov 7-4.



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In the second set, the Swiss broke Dimitrov early to lead 2-0 and had another break point mid-way to ultimately serve out for the match that last an hour and 29 minutes.



The 17-time Grand Slam titlist is in pursuit of his fourth title in the event and a fifth ATP Tour crown for the year.



"I thought the level was high throughout for both of us," Federer said. "I think Grigor served very well in the first, he didn't give me very many opportunities. I think overall it was a very good performance and I played my best tennis of the week so far."



Dimitrov was looking for some valuable points to clinch a spot at the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London but at 11th place, his chance of qualifying for the eight-man short list is in jeopardy.



Federer, 33, will now face hard-hitting Ivo Karlovic in the semis after the eight seed defeated Benjamin Becker of Germany in straight sets 6-4 6-4.



The Croatian connected a total of 19 service aces and converted 87 percent of his first serves to take down Becker in an hour and 16 minutes.



Karlovic has made it again to the semifinals and hopes to appear in the finals of the tournament for the first time.



"It's great to be here again in the semi-finals," said Karlovic. "I was holding my serve well against Benjamin. All in all it was a great match."




TagsRoger Federer, Grigor Dimitrov, Ivo Karlovic