Federer digs deep to advance to semis

Roger Federer recovered from a nightmare first set to beat Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka and advance to the semi-finals of the Stockholm Open in the Swedish capital last night.

Federer made a poor start and dropped the first set against Wawrinka, but fought back well to score an ultimately comfortable 2-6 6-3 6-2 success and move into the last four.

Second seed Robin Soderling failed to join Federer in the semis and must also wait to guarantee his place at the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour finals in London after losing to Germany's Florian Mayer.

Mayer triumphed 7-6 (10/8) 6-1 to move into the last four where he was joined by fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic. The resurgent Ljubicic beat his compatriot, qualifier Ivan Dodig, 4-6 6-2 6-4.

Finland's Jarkko Nieminen also made it through to the semi-finals with an emphatic win over American wild card James Blake. Nieminen needed just 50 minutes to polish off a 6-0 6-2 victory.