Roger Federer's victory against qualifier Florian Mayer in the Mercedes Cup saw him move to second place in the list of Open Era match wins.
The Swiss passed Ivan Lendl for 1,072 match wins with a 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/1) success on Friday to seal a place in the semi-finals in Stuttgart. Only Jimmy Connors (1,256) has now won more career matches than Federer.
Mayer saved one set point in the final game of the first set while Federer recovered from 15-40 and saved three set points at 5-6 in the second set.
The top seed will play the newest member in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings in the last four - number seven Dominic Thiem.
Thiem, the third seed in Germany, overcame 2002 champion Mikhail Youzhny 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 51 minutes.
Juan Martin del Potro, champion in 2008, came from a set down to win 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-0 against fourth seed Gilles Simon and the Argentinian will play Philipp Kohlschreiber in the other semi-final after the seventh seed beat qualifier Radek Stepanek in straight sets 6-4, 7-5.
Source: PA
