Sports thrive on a good master-apprentice tale, and the story gets even better when the apprentice finds a way to snatch the stone from the master’s hand and finishes off the upset.

But even against a diminished Roger Federer, Grigor Dimitrov — long called Baby Fed — was not ready to deliver a changing of the guard or even a third set on Friday.

In their first, much-anticipated meeting, Federer won, 6-3, 7-6 (2), in the quarterfinals of his hometown tournament in Basel, Switzerland.

That put a smile on Federer’s face near the end of a most unamusing season in which he has slipped out of the Big Four to No. 6 in this week’s rankings.