With the favorites, Nadal and Djokovic, out of the tournament (Murray opted to skip due to injury), it was up to Federer to rescue the tournament.  Federer had an easy win over Tipsarevic, relying once again on some aggressive net-charging, a strategy he seemed to abandon when serve-and-volley fell out of style.  While he wasn’t fully committed to the strategy, he came to net a lot more than usual.  Federer’s aggression had Tipsarevic surprised.  The Serb never looked that comfortable.

Federer wins 62, 63.

In the finals, he’ll meet Tomas Berdych who has shown an affinity for clay.  He is one of the few players that uses his power to outhit his opponents, but uses the clay to get more time.  He beat del Potro in two tiebreaks.  Apparently, some overrules (later shown to be correct) of very close calls gave Berdych an edge and left del Potro angry.

Federer will be favored to win, but Berdych is dangerous enough to give Federer some trouble.