BERLIN — World number two Roger Federer comfortably beat Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3 7-5 on Wednesday to move into the last eight of the Halle Open where he will meet Germany's Florian Mayer.
The 17-times grand slam winner, preparing for Wimbledon's grass courts, got his first break when Gulbis sent a forehand long to go 4-2 up. He easily held serve to bag the first set.
The pair traded blows in the second set before Federer again broke Gulbis with the world number 86 double faulting at 5-5.
The defending champion, who has won the tournament seven times, fired a forehand winner on his first match point to set up a quarter-final meeting with the German.