 Federer last lost a singles match on grass at Wimbledon in 2002 |
World number one Roger Federer was made to work hard by Richard Gasquet before he reached the quarter-finals of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle. Federer edged out the unseeded French teenager 7-6 6-7 6-4 to chalk up his 38th consecutive win on grass.
He next face Olivier Rochus after the Belgian seventh seed rallied from a set down to beat Russia's Marat Safin, last year's beaten finalist, 4-6 6-4 6-1.
Federer is unbeaten on grass since the first round at Wimbledon in 2002.
If he captures his fourth straight Halle title, he will equal Bjorn's Borg's professional era record of 41 consecutive wins on grass.
"It was very close," said Federer after edging past Gasquet.
"It was a grass court match played from the baseline, and that was difficult for me. I thought he was playing better from the baseline."
In other matches, fifth seed Tomas Berdych beat fellow Czech player Jiri Novak 6-3 6-7 7-5.
Sweden's Robin Soderling, beaten by Federer in the 2004 final, had to battle back from a set down to beat Andrei Pavel, Romania of 4-6 6-3 6-0.
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