Defending champion Roger Federer contested his first complete match of the week Friday afternoon, as he defeated 6th seed Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5. With the quarterfinal-round success, the Swiss made his fourth semifinal berth in Cincinnati.
A tight opening set held no breaks for either player until the 10th game. Federer played solid tennis to reach triple set point at 5-4. A backhand miss from Davydenko closed the 6-4 set in 50 minutes.
Federer continued his effort, as he built a 3-0 advantage into the second set. Davydenko recovered to level the set, having employed aggressive groundstrokes to 2-3. The Swiss regrouped to collect double match point at 5-4, but was not successful. Federer pocketed three additional match points at 6-5, then sealed the victory as Davydenko pushed a backhand long.
