Spanish top seed and defending champion David Ferrer reached the Swedish Open semi-finals on Friday after beating home hope Robin Soderling 7-5 6-7 6-1.

Ferrer's quest for back-to-back titles should get a lot tougher, however, as 2006 champion and third seed Tommy Robredo awaits him.

Robredo forged his way into the semi-finals by knocking off seventh-seeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen, 6-2 7-6 (7/4).


Ferrer, who has ascended to fourth in the ATP rankings, is gunning for his third title of the season and has a 38-13 record in 2008.

Second seed Fernando Verdasco recovered earlier from a sluggish start to beat Swede Bjorn Rehnquist and set up a semi-final against Czech Tomas Berdych.

Verdasco, a career-high 13th in the world, played poorly in the opening set against qualifier Rehnquist before finding his rhythm to win 2-6 6-1 6-0.

Ferdasco will now face the fourth-seeded Berdych, of the Czech Republic, who cruised past Italian Potito Starace 6-3, 6-2.

(source Press Association, photo/Arne Forsell)

Top four seeds triumph in Swedish Open