World number one Roger Federer is in Saturday's semi-finals of the Halle ATP tournament after racking up his 57th straight win on grass against 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis.

The Swiss needed just 72 minutes to see off fifth-seed Baghdatis 6-4, 6-4 in Friday's quarter-final and will play Germany's Nicolas Kiefer for a place in the final and is yet to drop a set in the competition.

After an average performance in the previous round against Jan Vacek, Federer dominated Baghdatis from the start and put his 22-year-old opponent under constant pressure with his baseline strokes.

He immediately gained break points, converting the third one to go up 1-0 and never looked back to take a one-set lead.

Baghdatis never came close to winning back the break, with Federer just giving up four points in his first five service games.

"I am through to semis without losing a set, everything is fine," said Federer, who is in Halle this week to work on his grasscourt game as he bids to win a sixth Wimbledon title later this month.

And despite his impressive run on grass, Federer says he will not be taking Saturday's opponent Kiefer lightly.

"He is an aggressive base-liner and very dangerous," said Federer.

"He beat me last on grass at the 2002 semi-finals here, so I have to take him seriously.

"He has fast legs and he has been in the top ten (fourth in the world in 2000)."

Kiefer set up his clash with Federer when his quarter-final opponent Michael Llodra withdrew with an arm injury after just 19 minutes of the first set with the score at 4-0.

"I am very happy with my four straight games," said Kiefer, who added his delight both he and compatriot Philipp Kohlschreiber are in the Halle semis.

"I felt well on court and so far I am back in the semis. After the bad performance of German players in Paris, everybody said our tennis is done, but now we have two players in the last four.

"Roger is favorite, of course, for tomorrow. It will be a very special match and I am looking forward to it."

Kohlschreiber earlier became the first German to book his semi-final place following a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Sweden's Robin Soderling.

Kohlschreiber has set his sights on both winning the tournament in Halle and regaining his status as the German number one.

His flexible style of play helped him beat Soderling, who is a grass court specialist.

"They are like gun shots," was how Kohlschreiber described Soderling's serves.

The German will take on second-seed James Blake in the other semi-final after he needed two tie-breaks to see off wild-card Andreas Beck 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5).

AFP