Mercedes Cup 2016: Friday Tennis Scores, Results and Updated Schedule
Roger Federer booked himself a spot in the semi-finals of the 2016 Mercedes Cup with a 7-6(2), 7-6(1) victory over an impressive Florian Mayer on Friday in Stuttgart, Germany.
It was two brilliant tie-break performances that saw Federer through against the German, with the former world No. 1 kicking up a gear at the end of both sets.
The Swiss legend will face third seed Dominic Thiem in the last four after the in-form Austrian came back from a set down to beat Mikhail Youzhny 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the quarters.
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Later on Friday, Gilles Simon faces his last-eight clash against Juan Martin del Potro.
Here are the results from Friday's action on the German grass:
| Result | Score |
| (3) Dominic Thiem bt. Mikhail Youzhny | 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 |
| (1) Roger Federer bt. Florian Mayer | 7-6(2), 7-6(1) |
| (7) Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Radek Stepanek | 6-4, 7-5 |
| (4) Gilles Simon vs. Juan Martin del Potro |
For the updated schedule, visit the Pro Tennis Live app.
Friday Recap
Federer was put through the wringer by American teenager Taylor Fritz in the second round and things were no easier against Mayer.
The 17-time Grand Slam winner faced a break point in the very first game, but he managed to hold with some excellent serving.
Mayer did not look completely comfortable physically, but he managed to produce some brilliant forehands and traded holds with Federer to go into a tie-break.
The home player could do little to get a foothold in the breaker as Federer produced some stunning serves and dragged his opponent back and forth with a tremendous variety of shots, and Mayer was 5-1 down at the change of ends.
After moving 6-2 ahead, Federer fittingly served out the set with an ace, per TennisTV:
Mayer, 32, was not disheartened, though, and he took a 2-0 lead in the second set after breaking Federer, only for the world No. 3 to get back to 2-2 after claiming a break of his own.
The two players then showed off some stunning serving as they both held with ease, barely giving up a single opportunity as the match moved towards an inevitable second tie-break.
Federer was nerveless when serving to stay in the set at 5-4 as he held to love, but Mayer took advantage of some sloppy first serves at 6-5 to earn three set points.
Inevitably Federer came up with the goods when required and forced another tie-break, in which he duly raced into a 6-0 lead, his forehand winner down the line for 4-0 a thing of genuine beauty.
Mayer got on the board for 6-1 before another stunning forehand saw Federer book his spot in the last four after a very entertaining 85 minutes of action, and he edged past Ivan Lendl in the history books, per tennis writer Michal Samulski:
World No. 7 Thiem endured a gruelling encounter against Russian Youzhny, which went the distance over 110 minutes.
He lost the opener as Youzhny claimed two breaks to his one. Thiem's first-serve percentage of 54 let him down compared to his opponent's 75 per cent.
However, he regained parity to force a decider, securing the only break of the second set and proving very effective behind his second serve.
The third was a tight encounter and, after Thiem made a poor mistake when given the opportunity to edge ahead and break at 4-3, the set moved to 5-5.
But the 22-year-old claimed the crucial break when it mattered most and saw out the set and the match with a crushing forehand, TennisTV providing full statistics from the match:
Thiem will face a very tough challenge against Federer in the last four but, given the form he is in, he has every chance of reaching the final.
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