By ,
Published February 05, 2015
Halle, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) - Six-time Halle champion Roger Federer and fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori secured berths in the semifinals at the grass- court Gerry Weber Open, a Wimbledon tune-up.
The second-seeded former world No. 1 great Federer was scheduled to meet Yen-Hsun Lu in Friday's quarterfinals, but the Taiwanese slugger pulled out of the draw, citing a back problem, while the Japanese Nishikori took care of American Steve Johnson 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) at Gerry Weber Stadium.
Federer and Nishikori will do battle on Saturday.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion Federer beat Russian Mikhail Youzhny in last year's Gerry Weber finale. The 32-year-old icon owns more grass-court titles (13) than any other player since the Open Era began in 1968.
The other semifinal will pit Germany's own Philipp Kohlschreiber against Colombian fellow non-seed Alejandro Falla. The 2011 Halle champion and 2008 runner-up Kohlschreiber outlasted wild card and fellow German Dustin Brown 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (18-16) in 2 hours, 10 minutes, while Falla beat German wild card Peter Gojowczyk 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2) on Day 5. The giant-killer Brown, who launched 19 aces in his loss against Kohlschreiber, stunned French Open champion Rafael Nadal here on Thursday.
The 2014 Halle champion will claim $175,000.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/federer-nishikori-reach-halle-semis