Federer advances to Monte Carlo semis

MONTE CARLO—Roger Federer is a victory away from another appearance in the Masters Series Monte-Carlo final.
The top-seeded Swiss advanced to the semifinals of the claycourt event Friday with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, win over sixth-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina.
Federer has reached the final of this tournament each of the past two years, but in each instance he has finished runner-up to claycourt specialist Rafael Nadal.
The world No. 1 is now 35-6 on clay since the start of 2006 and five of those losses have come against Nadal, who can reach the semifinals with a win over fellow Spaniard and fifth seed David Ferrer.
Federer’s quarterfinal win Friday also allowed him to exact a bit of revenge on Nalbandian, who has been the proverbial thorn in his side recently.
Nalbandian beat Federer in both meetings last season and has split 16 career matches with the 54-time champion dating to 2002.
Federer, who won his first title of the year at Estoril on Sunday, faces a potential semifinal match with third-seed Novak Djokovic.
The 20-year-old Serb, who meets unseeded American Sam Querrey later Friday, beat Federer in the semifinals of the Australian Open en route to his first Grand Slam title earlier this year.
The Nadal-Ferrer winner will book a semifinal match with fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko, who held on for a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win over Russian compatriot Igor Andreev.
Davydenko, owner of an ATP-best 27 wins this season, is attempting to reach his third consecutive final.
The 26-year-old claimed the biggest victory of his career in Miami and followed that up with an runner-up effort in Estoril, where he retired against Federer in the second set due to a leg injury.

—Agencies