Roger Federer was nowhere near his best but still beat Juan Monaco in straight sets to set up a semi-final against Tomas Berdych at the Paris Masters, bringing up his 800th win on the ATP Tour.
World number four Federer - the highest remaining seed after Andy Murray lost to Berdych and Novak Djokovic withdrew injured - won 6-3 7-5 but had a mediocre game by his high standards, putting in a whopping 35 unforced errors.
But, despite suffering an early break, the Swiss was always in control and never again truly threatened by world number 34 Monaco, who only hit eight winners all match.
There was a chance for Monaco to level at the end of the second set, pushing Federer to deuce at 5-4, but the 16-times Grand Slam winner held on and served out the win with an ace.
Federer, who beat Monaco 6-1 6-2 6-0 in the fourth round of the US Open, admitted it had been a more difficult task this time out.
"I struggled a bit today, I didn't play as well as I did in New York," Federer said afterwards. "I served really well and once you zone in it's really hard to get you out of it.
"This time it was a lot harder, especially to adapt on serve when someone uses a lot of spin like Monaco does.
"Today I thought it was so slow (on court) so I had to adjust my game.
"I also enjoyed Berdych and Murray's match. I thought they played better tennis than we did today."
It was a landmark win for the 30-year-old Federer, his 800th of a career that has brought 16 Majors and 68 titles in total.
Federer was aware of the statistic, and joked that his 13-year professional career was taking its toll.
"800 wins means 800 grey hairs! I love tennis and I knew coming in that it could be my 800th win," he said.
"It's nice to do it on the 11/11/11 (referring to the date).
"But I know there are many other players that have played more tennis than I have. So it's just another win, but it's a special one nevertheless, because 800 is a big number."
World number four Federer - the highest remaining seed after Andy Murray lost to Berdych and Novak Djokovic withdrew injured - won 6-3 7-5 but had a mediocre game by his high standards, putting in a whopping 35 unforced errors.
But, despite suffering an early break, the Swiss was always in control and never again truly threatened by world number 34 Monaco, who only hit eight winners all match.
There was a chance for Monaco to level at the end of the second set, pushing Federer to deuce at 5-4, but the 16-times Grand Slam winner held on and served out the win with an ace.
Federer, who beat Monaco 6-1 6-2 6-0 in the fourth round of the US Open, admitted it had been a more difficult task this time out.
"I struggled a bit today, I didn't play as well as I did in New York," Federer said afterwards. "I served really well and once you zone in it's really hard to get you out of it.
"This time it was a lot harder, especially to adapt on serve when someone uses a lot of spin like Monaco does.
"Today I thought it was so slow (on court) so I had to adjust my game.
"I also enjoyed Berdych and Murray's match. I thought they played better tennis than we did today."
It was a landmark win for the 30-year-old Federer, his 800th of a career that has brought 16 Majors and 68 titles in total.
Federer was aware of the statistic, and joked that his 13-year professional career was taking its toll.
"800 wins means 800 grey hairs! I love tennis and I knew coming in that it could be my 800th win," he said.
"It's nice to do it on the 11/11/11 (referring to the date).
"But I know there are many other players that have played more tennis than I have. So it's just another win, but it's a special one nevertheless, because 800 is a big number."
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