Federer forced to dig deep by Mannarino
Basel, Switzerland: Top seed Roger Federer was finally forced to work hard for a win at the Swiss Indoors tournament as he fought back to beat Adrian Mannarino 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in his quarterfinal on Friday.
The world number two, chasing an eighth title at his hometown tournament, had dropped only eight games as he breezed through the first two rounds but found his 28th-ranked opponent a much tougher nut to crack.
Mannarino took the first set and, although Federer cruised through the second, the Frenchman made him work hard again in the third before the Swiss completed the win.
Federer's semi-final opponent will be either American Jack Sock or Belgium's David Goffin who were playing in the last quarter-final.
World number four Marin Cilic had an even harder time, needing two tiebreaks to dispatch 100th-ranked Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-6(4) in just over three hours.
The Croat now faces Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, a late contender to snatch one of the last two places at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, who beat Roberto Bautista 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.