Top-ranked Roger Federer rallied from a shaky start Friday to edge Japan's Takao Suzuki 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3) and advance to the Japan Open semifinals.
The Swiss star dropped the first set to Suzuki, who recently recovered from a shoulder injury and is playing in his first ATP tournament since the Australian Open in January.
``It was a difficult match and I was afraid I might lose it,'' said Federer. ``He mixed up his serves well and hit all the corners. I got a bit of luck here and there in the third set which helped.''
Federer, who had 13 aces, finally found his rhythm in the second set and broke Suzuki for the first time in the final game after being down 30-love.
Suzuki, ranked 1,078th in the world, kept pace with Federer in the third set, holding serve in the 12th game to force the tiebreaker.
``Not returning more of his serves was the only part of my game today that I maybe wasn't happy with,'' said Federer. ``But that had a lot to do with my opponent and how well he hit the ball.''
Federer, playing in his first tournament since winning the U.S. Open last month, has been inconsistent in his Japan debut.
The Swiss star struggled through his opening match against qualifier Viktor Troicki before returning to form in the third round Thursday with a convincing 6-2, 6-1 win over defending champion Wesley Moodie.
Even though he lost, Suzuki said he was pleased with his performance.
``I felt really good playing the World No. 1 on centre court,'' said Suzuki. ``I didn't really have a game plan, I just got caught up in the moment and am happy I played so well today.''
Earlier Friday, No. 10 Tim Henman of Britain overcame a slow start to defeat Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro 7-6 (3), 6-3 and advance to the quarterfinals.
Henman has not reached a top-tier tournament final since Indian Wells in 2004 and his ranking has dropped from a career-high No. 4 in 2002 to No. 55.
In women's matches, top seeded Marion Bartoli of France cruised into the semifinals, beating Russia's Vera Dushvina 6-2, 6-4 before downing Junri Namigata of Japan 6-2, 6-1 in the quarter-finals.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
