Nadal out of rest of the season, Federer into semis

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AFP
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Nadal out of rest of the season, Federer into semis
BASEL: Rafael Nadal suffered a 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) loss in the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors to teenager Borna Coric on Friday and then shut down his season to undergo appendix surgery.

The nine-time French Open champion and 14-time Grand Slam title winner confirmed he will have his appendix removed on November 3.

Given the circumstances the 28-year-old Spaniard said there was no logic in him competing at either next week´s Paris Masters or the eight-man World Tour Finals in London from November 9. "This is the day to say goodbye for the season," said Nadal. It´s the day to say I had a good first six months this year. But it was hard after that with back and (three-month summer) wrist problems and now the appendix. I´m not going to play Paris or London, I´m not competitive enough to do that. I need to do the surgery, I need to work on my back next week before the operation. Then I need five weeks to recover."

Top seed Roger Federer turned in another command performance, mowing down fifth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov as the Swiss continued his bid for a sixth home trophy.

Federer posted a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 win to set up a semi-final with the biggest server in the game, Ivo Karlovic after the eighth seed beat German Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-4. It´s like a penalty shootout playing him," said Federer of the leading ace-maker on the ATP this season with more than 1,000. "You just pick a side on his serve and hope you are right. There´s really no strategy."

Federer´s win was his 65th of the season and lifted his record at the tournament to 54-9.

Nadal, who had been taking antibiotics to treat appendicitis since the Chinese swing of the tour earlier this month, said his goal is to have a month of training in December when his physical problems are mended. If I play the last two tournaments, I would not be competitive and would have no chance to win. It is better for me to recover. I hope to be back at the start of 2015 ready for anything."