Halle, Germany (Sports Network) - Fresh off his seventh French Open
title, Rafael Nadal came up a quarterfinal loser Friday, while five-time
Halle champion Roger Federer successfully reached the semifinals at the
$835,000 Gerry Weber Open, a grass-court Wimbledon tune-up.
Reigning Halle titlist Philipp Kohlschreiber, seeded eighth this week, upended
the top-seeded former world No. 1 Nadal, 6-3, 6-4, at Gerry Weber Stadium.
Nadal was playing his first singles tennis in Halle in seven years this week.
Kohlschreiber popped eight aces and broke the two-time Wimbledon champion
Nadal's serve twice, while the Spaniard failed to break his German counterpart
on Day 5.
Nadal had been a perfect 8-0 lifetime against Kohlschreiber before Friday.
Kohlschreiber beat Philipp Petzschner in last year's all-Phillip, all-German
finale and was the 2008 Halle runner-up to Federer.
Meanwhile, a second-seeded Federer survived against big-serving fifth-seeded
Canadian Milos Raonic, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), in just under two hours.
Raonic bowed out despite firing 25 aces past the Swiss icon.
The 30-year-old six-time Wimbledon champion Federer, who's had a street named
after him in Halle, titled here from 2003-06 and in '08 and was the runner-up
in 2010.
Federer's semifinal opponent on Saturday will be gritty Russian Mikhail
Youzhny, who held off Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
The 2012 Gerry Weber champ will collect $150,000.
The Sports Network