Federer downs defending champ in Halle

Roger Federer has sailed into the semifinals of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle with a straight-sets dismissal of defending champion Florian Mayer.

The No.1 seed’s 6-3 6-4 victory – achieved in a customarily rapid-fire 66 minutes – sets up a meeting in the last four with Russian young gun Karen Khachanov.

Khachanov came through a meeting between compatriots and #NextGen stars when he overcame Andrey Rublev in three tight sets.

Earlier on Friday in Halle, Richard Gasquet advanced to the semifinals with a 6-1 3-6 6-1 win over Robin Haase, but not before the Dutchman produced this little slice of magic early in the first set.

VIDEO: Haase invents hot shot in Halle

Later in the day, No.4 seed Alexander Zverev ran away with a 6-7(6) 7-6(1) 6-1 quarterfinal win over Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain.

Yet Friday’s schedule of play centred around the Federer-Mayer clash – top seed versus defending champion, beloved international star versus plucky local hope.

“It was important to be aggressive off the baseline and make him feel my variation and the power I can bring to the court,” Federer told atpworldtour.com.

“And then having good footwork, to see the short ball, the floater, where I can come in and knock it off with a volley. I think I did it very well. I had lots of chances to even go up a double break in the second set.

“I thought I was very calm out there, even in difficult moments. I was calm serving out the first and second sets. Those are always signs for me that things are slowly starting to fall into place nicely.”