World number one Roger Federer survived an almighty scare from 1,078th-ranked Takao Suzuki before battling his way into the semi-finals of the Japan Open in Tokyo with a tight three-set victory on Friday.
The top seed came through 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 after being pushed to the limit by an inspired Japanese wildcard, who was playing his first tournament in nine months.
The Swiss finally booked a place in the last four on his second match point, a fierce forehand return that forced Suzuki into a volley error to give Federer the third-set tiebreak 7-3.
Federer needed just over two hours to beat Suzuki, who was making his return to the game after suffering a serious shoulder injury in January.
Playing for the first time in Japan, the nine-times Grand Slam champion moves on to a last four encounter against either Finland's Jarkko Nieminen or German Benjamin Becker on Saturday.
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