By Chris Oddo | Saturday February 17, 2018
Roger Federer was made to work but eventually carved his way past Italy’s Andreas Seppi to book his spot in the Rotterdam final alongside Grigor Dimitrov. The Swiss came through, 6-3, 7-6(3), to improve to 14-1 lifetime against Seppi and 27-6 lifetime at Rotterdam.
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Federer had a scratchy start and faced break points in each of his first two service games. Seppi took advantage of the opportunity and leveled at 2-all in the first set but he could not hold his advantage as Federer would break twice more to claim the opener.
The second set was of higher quality and remained close until Federer finally pulled away in the tiebreaker. Neither player saw a break point in the second set, but it would be Federer who capitalized by cruising to the finish, and sealing his 11th victory of the season with a put away volley.
The Swiss will bid for his 97th career title on Sunday when he faces Dimitrov for the seventh time. The Bulgarian has never defeated Federer.
Federer improves to 146-47 lifetime in semifinals. He has won 10 of his last 11 ATP semifinals since falling to Milos Raonic at Wimbledon in 2016.