World No. 2 Roger Federer cruised into the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday with his third successive win in London this week.
The Swiss star defeated Robin Soderling of Sweden 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 to reach the last four of the men's season-ending event for the eight time in nine appearances.
He became the first player of the eight-man field to make it through, with his victory meaning that Andy Murray needed to win only one set against Spain's David Ferrer in the late match to go through.
The British player subsequently triumphed 6-2 6-2 to qualify for the first time.
Federer's win also ended the hopes of fourth seed Soderling, a semifinalist last year who suffered his second straight-sets defeat in Group B after beating Ferrer on Tuesday.
"I'm happy I was able to come out today and play a good, tough, solid match against a player who I thought was in good shape," Federer told the ATP Tour website.