Federer beat Seppi

The third seed will now face defending champion Novak Djokovic for a place in the final of one of the few Masters events he has never won.

Seppi had captured the imagination of the fans at Foro Italico after his epic three-set victory over Stanislas Wawrinka the previous night, but Federer easily proved to be one Swiss too far for the world number 30.

The match got underway almost an hour later than originally scheduled due to the women's clash between Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber on Campo Centrale which preceded it, but Federer immediately set about making up for lost time.

The two-times finalist blitzed his opponent, winning the first five games on course to extending his record against the 28-year-old to 9-0.

Seppi gave the home crowd, which included AS Roma captain Francesco Totti, something to cheer about by holding serve to love in the sixth game to avoid a bagel, but he could not stop Federer claiming the set in the very next game with just 20 minutes on the clock.

The Italian emerged with renewed vigour in the second set, comfortably holding in the opening game before forcing two break points in the second of the set which he could not convert.

Federer had his own three-set encounter the previous round against Juan Carlos Ferrero, but he appeared to have plenty of energy while Seppi looked as though he was running on empty.

The former world number one broke his drained opponent in the fifth and seventh games as he began to go through his extensive repertoire of winners before serving out the match in under an hour.