Fed express rolls on

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Roger Federer cemented his spot in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 win over Sweden's Robin Soderling.

The win on Thursday ensured the 16-time Grand Slam tournament winner finished atop Group B, after convincing wins over David Ferrer, Andy Murray and now Soderling.

Federer's victory means Scotland's Murray can book a place in the last four if the beats Ferrer on Thursday, while Soderling needs Ferrer to win that match in straight sets if he is to progress.

There was little to separate the two players in the first set as Federer broke in the third game, but Soderling fought back strongly with some heavy groundstrokes to return the break in the eighth game, meaning a tie-breaker was needed to decide the set.

Federer raced to a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker but Soderling pulled it back to 5-4, before Federer blew a chance to claim the set at 6-4.

At 6-5 the fourth-seeded Swede made a crucial error when he opted to leave a Federer volley that landed in, handing the Swiss maestro the first set.

The second set was again an arm wrestle, but Federer went after the Soderling serve in the eighth game and brought up his fourth break point of the match with a blistering forehand winner.

He duly converted the opportunity and went on to hold serve and win the second set 6-3 against the man who knocked him out of this year's French Open.

Federer looks to be playing some of his best tennis of the season at London's O2 Arena, after a disappointing year which saw him lose the world number one ranking to Rafael Nadal and win just one Grand Slam title - the Australian Open in January.

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