HAMBURG, Germany (AFP) - Defending champion Roger Federer booked his place in the semi-finals of the Hamburg Masters Series with a straight sets win over Spain's Fernando Verdasco on Friday.

World number one Federer had few problems as he beat the Spaniard 6-3, 6-3 in just 80 minutes and will face either unseeded local hero Nicolas Kiefer or Italy's Andreas Seppi in Saturday's semi-final.

Verdasco had removed fifth-seed David Ferrer and tenth-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny from the tournament in previous rounds.

Federer has won four of the last six tournaments in Hamburg and beat clay-court king Rafael Nadal in last year's final.