© Arne Forsell
For the first time since 1984, the top four seeds have reached the semifinals of the Catella Swedish Open. Twenty four years ago four Swedes Anders Jarryd, Henrik Sundtrom, Joakim Nystrom and Stefan Edberg advanced to the last four.

Top seed and defending champion David Ferrer will meet Spanish compatriot and No. 3 seed Tommy Robredo, the 2006 winner, for the fifth time in the semifinals on Saturday.

Ferrer, who beat Nicolas Almagro in an all-Spanish final last year, won a marathon encounter against eighth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-1 in two hours and 43 minutes on Centre Court. The 26-year-old Ferrer battled back from a 5-2 deficit in the second set. He eventually converted six of 13 break point opportunities and saved 13 break points. The World No. 4 will attempt to reach his 13th career ATP final on Saturday. He improved to 38-13 on the season, highlighted by two ATP titles at Valencia (d. Almagro) and 's-Hertogenbosch (d. Gicquel). The 23-year-old Soderling dropped to 9-25 lifetime against Top 10 opponents in the South African Airways ATP Rankings and to 28-13 on the season.

Robredo will look to snap a three-match losing streak against Ferrer, including two losses this year at Valencia and Barcelona. The 26-year-old former champion defeated No. 7 seed Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-2, 7-6(3) in a rain-interrupted clash that lasted one hour and 33 minutes. It was the pair’s sixth career meeting. He improved to 24-14 on the season. Robredo has now reached the semifinals (or better) in Bastad on five occasions in eight appearances. In 2006 he beat Nikolay Davydenko for the clay-court title, however last month lost to the Russian in the Warsaw final. Nieminen drops to 16-18 on the season. His best result this year came at Auckland, when he reached the final (l. to Llodra).

Meanwhile, second-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco (pictured) will meet fourth seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic for the sixth time.

Verdasco, who is currently a career-high No. 13 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, fought back for a slow start to beat Swedish qualifier and World No. 146 Bjorn Rehnquist 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 in one hour and 48 minutes. There was 26 points point opportunities during the match, with Verdasco saving eight of 11. The 24-year-old Verdasco improved to 27-16 on the season and will be hoping to reach his sixth career ATP final on Saturday. Last month he finished runner-up in Nottingham (l. to Karlovic).

Berdych will be looking to avenge his Wimbledon third round defeat to Verdasco, after knocking out unseeded Italian Potito Starace 6-3, 6-2 in the pair’s first career meeting since 2004 Kitzbuhel. World No. 23 Berdych hit seven aces and won 80 per cent of service points to take his place in his second ATP semifinal of the season. The 22-year-old Monte-Carlo resident improved to 20-13 on the season and will be looking to reach his second Bastad final on Saturday. In 2005, Berdych finished runner-up (l. to Nadal). Starace, who celebrates his 27th birthday on July 14, dropped to 13-18 on the season.

The last time the top four seeds reached the semifinals at an ATP tournament came at Queen's Club, London, in June 2008. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick and David Nalbandian featured in the last four at the grass-court event.

Bastad Profile | Official Website | Buy Tickets | TV Schedule

Thursday: Defending Champion Ferrer, Robredo Reach QFs
Wednesday: Seeds Verdasco, Berdych Advance; Safin Out
Tuesday: Seventh Seed Nieminen Enjoys Safe Passage
Monday: Two Matches Completed on Rain-Hit Day