In all, Federer committed 38 unforced errors to Gulbis' 39, and trailed 20-33 in winners. Federer also struggled with his serve, landing only half of his first attempts to Gulbis' 71 percent.

Earlier, Novak Djokovic began his bid to reach a third consecutive Rome final with a quick 6-1, 6-1 win over French opponent Jeremy Chardy.

Also, Lleyton Hewitt ground out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over ninth- seeded Mikhail Youzhny, a positive step in the Australian's comeback from hip surgery.

Victor Hanescu of Romania beat another seeded player, No. 16 Juan Monaco, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

In other matches, Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland easily beat Juergen Melzer of Austria 6-1, 6-2. Feliciano Lopez of Spain advanced past Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-4, 6-3. Italian wild card Simone Bolelli eliminated German lucky loser Simon Greul 6-4, 6-1

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