Intro:

With the French Open just over a week away, Roger Federer conquered the clay in Rome to win through to the semi-finals of the Internazionali d'Italia on Friday (15th May).

Script:

Despite reaching the final three times, Roger Federer has still yet to win his first-ever Italian Open crown.

The Rome title is one of just two Masters series events Federer has never won.

He's now continuing his quest by moving into the semi-finals, after beating Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-3.

The Swiss second seed recovered from an early break against Berdych to seal the opening set with a run of four straight games.

And two breaks of serve in the second set secured victory for Federer after 67 minutes;

SOT ROGER FEDERER: "I think from the baseline I was playing very well, my serve wasn't quite there in the beginning, I had to go through too many second serves and he (Berdych) was able to take advantage of that and break early. So for me it was important to pick it up on the serve, which is maybe the easiest thing to do, especially if you are serving, I don't know I'm just guessing, 30, 40 per cent. I just wanted to make sure I got that up. I felt good again on the return and moving well, so as the match went on I think I got into the match better and better."

A win in Italy will mean Federer will have to make room in his ever-expanding trophy cabinet.