Roger Federer celebrates a Happy Birthday with a place in the semis at Rogers Cup in Toronto

Toronto: Second-seeded Roger Federer and Feliciano Lopez reached the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup with hard-fought victories in their quarter-finals matches.


It's icing on the cake for Federer, who earned his fourth birthday win by 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 against Ferrer in a one-hour 41-minute match Friday, reports Xinhua.


Besides getting to advance to the semis though, the Swiss also got a show of love from fans who spontaneously belted out a "Happy Birthday" song during a changeover.


"I think Canadians in particular are very open with their emotions. They make me feel very welcome here," he said.


And having that kind of support during an intense match is always a good thing, he said.


"It's nice to have crowd support for either player. It creates sort of an electric atmosphere," said Federer.


"Clearly you tend to get more nervous sometimes, but you can also really strive with those positive emotions."


The now 33-year-old player dominated the first set and won it easily in just 35 minutes. The second set started off in the same way as Federer took an early 2-0 lead after Ferrer sent the ball too wide at breakpoint.


But the birthday boy couldn't close and started giving away points. Committing 21 unforced errors in the set compared to Ferrer's seven, he gave the Spaniard a chance to get back into play to tie the set at 4-4, and then won it to force a third set.


"He played it tough. Getting back on even terms was something I could accept, but it was just more the end towards the second set I wasn't feeling it so much anymore in my racquet," explained Federer. "I was just not hitting the shots like I wanted them to be hit. Then my serve let me down a little bit."


Some birthday luck may have helped the Swiss out a little though at one point in the final set. During a game point, Federer lost his advantage after he double-faulted to put the game back at deuce, but stole the game with a bit of luck after the ball hit the net and toppled into Ferrer's court.


He ran away with the three-point lead and clinched his semis match after smashing a volley at match-point.


Many of the top seeds were ousted early on in the tournament this week, and Federer is now the last of the Top 3 to survive.


He is set to play against Lopez, who upset the sixth-seeded Milos Raonic, a Rogers Cup finalist last year, with a 6-4, 6(5)-7, 6-3 victory.


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