Roger Federer "pleased" with Swiss Indoors progress

Roger Federer has said that he is "pleased" at progressing to the semi-finals of the Swiss Indoors in Basel.

The world number one defeated Benoit Paire 6-2 6-2 on Friday to maintain his hopes of winning the competition for the sixth time in his career.

"It was a good match for me and I'm pleased to be back in the semi-finals,'' said the 31-year-old.

"It cannot have been easy for him playing a top 10 player. I had to play aggressive, but by the fourth game of the match, I knew what I had to do.''

Federer will face Paul-Henri Mathieu for a place in the final.