Top-seeded Roger Federer cruised past Andrei Pavel of Romania 6-3, 6-3 and improved his season record to 14-1 in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Open on Friday.
Federer broke Pavel to love in the sixth game, and needed three set points to win the first set.
The world No. 1 then broke in the fifth game of the second, and again in the ninth to win the match on a forehand winner.
He improved to 4-0 against Pavel, and 9-1 in Dubai, where he'll face Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, who defeated eighth-seeded Sjeng Schalken 6-3, 6-3.
"I'm not playing at my best ... but the most important thing is that I'm playing better than in the first few rounds," said Federer, the last surviving seed.
"I'm still missing a few shots and my serve is not where I want it to be," he added.
Earlier, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia reached his first tour semifinal this year with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 defeat of Rafael Nadal.
The Russian, ranked 40th, appeared to be spent after dropping the second set in high temperatures and humidity.
Youzhny, who went out in the first round in his two previous Dubai appearances, will now face another Spaniard in Feliciano Lopez, who overcame Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
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