Holder Roger Federer continued his trouble-free progress at the Hamburg Masters with a 6-3, 6-2 in over unseeded Swede Robin Soderling on Thursday.
The world number one, who beat Rafael Nadal to win the title for the fourth time last year, was barely made to sweat in reaching the quarter-finals of the 2.27 million euro ($3.52 million) clay-court tournament with a second straight-sets win.
David Ferrer, the fifth seed, saw his hopes of a first Masters title dashed when he lost an all-Spanish battle 7-6, 6-2 against his Davis Cup team mate Fernando Verdasco.
Verdasco edged the first set 7-4 on the tie-break and took a 4-1 lead in a second set that was tighter than the scoreline suggests, with Ferrer scrapping for everything.
Nadal, the world number two, is playing Andy Murray, who turned 21 on Thursday, in the final match on centre-court.
