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Roger Federer will play against his childhood mate Marco Chiudinelli in the Swiss Indoors semi-finals. Friendship will be on the back burner in a battle of Basle boys for a place in the final of the Swiss Indoors.
Top seed Federer has been a winner of last three editions of his home event. He claimed his 18th straight victory at the tournament with a 55-minute win over Russian Evgeny Korolev 6-3, 6-2 on Friday.
Number 73 Chiudinelli had crushed Richard Gasquet by 6-1, 6-3. He will be playing the first semi of his career.
Federer said, “Marco has really been improving this year. It will be tough but enjoyable. I hardly ever get to play a good friend like this. It should be a great experience; I'm looking forward to it."
Second seed Novak Djokovic ousted sixth seeded Swiss Stan Wawrinka by 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.The Serbian will next face Czech Radek Stepanek, a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 winner over Croatian fourth seed Marin Cilic.
Djokovic has won four of five matches against Stepanek, including a US Open fourth round two months ago."This was much more than just a test," Djokovic said of the Wawrinka win.
