Swiss great Roger Federer overcame the effects of a recent illness and a tenacious Grigor Dimitrov to book a place in the semi-finals of the Brisbane International on Friday. Federer, the defending champion, edged Dimitrov 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4 in his fourth consecutive win over the Bulgarian. After racing through the first set with a display of almost perfect tennis, Federer, who has been battling illness this week, seemed to tire in the second as Dimitrov grew in confidence.
But the 17-time Grand Slam champion dug deep in the third, breaking Dimitrov in the fifth game and holding on to win in two hours, seven minutes. The Swiss champion conceded he wasn't 100 per cent during the match. "It was tough in a way. The body is not quite ready, you know, so it's good to get through it without any issues," he said.
"But, yeah, physically it was difficult." Dimitrov hadn't managed to take a set off his opponent in their three previous meetings and he looked to be heading to another straight sets defeat as Federer put on a dazzling display of power and precision. The former world number one conceded only two points on serve in the first set and put enormous pressure on Dimitrov, who cracked when serving at 4-5 to hand Federer the opener in 35 minutes. However, Federer began to tire in the second and Dimitrov picked up the pace, forcing the set to a tiebreak before pouncing on some loose serving to level the match.