Top-seeded Vincent Spadea beat qualifier Hugo Armando 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 Friday night to reach the semifinals of the Millennium International Tennis Championships.
Spadea joins third-seeded Mario Ancic of Croatia, who beat Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen 6-2, 7-5, as the only seeded players to reach the semifinals.
The 21st-ranked Spadea needed 1 hour, 38 minutes to defeat fellow American Armando, playing just his second ATP Tour quarterfinal match. Spadea won just 12 points in the second set before recovering in the third, where he lost just one point over the final two games.
"I sensed him getting a bit frustrated, especially at the start of the second set," Armando said. "When the third set started, he was right back in it."
Spadea reached the ITC semifinals for the first time in seven appearances.
"This tournament has always meant a lot to me," he said. "I just never really had the result I was hoping for one reason or another. Now, I'm two matches away from winning the title, but I'm a long ways away still. I've got my work cut out."
Spadea advances to face American Jeff Salzenstein, who beat Greg Rusedski of Britain 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) to reach his first ATP semifinal.
Meanwhile, the 1.95m Ancic blasted eight aces and won 86 percent of his first service points to reach his fourth semifinal of the year. The 24th-ranked Ancic, who also reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, has never won an ATP title.
"I'm happy to win and advance to the semis," Ancic said. "This is great for me."
Ancic's next opponent will be Brazilian Ricardo Mello, who beat Frenchman Jerome Golmard 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 to earn his first ATP semifinals appearance.
"I'm in a very good moment in my career as a player," Mello said through a translator. "I'm taking good advantage of this moment, and this is increasing my confidence."
China Open
Marat Safin cruised to a 6-2, 6-4 win over America's Kevin Kim on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the China Open and a step closer to his first title of the year.
"It was quite easy for me to find my game today," Safin said. "I'm playing much better ... so I'm quite confident on the court."
The Russian, through to his first semis since April, will face Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, who upset No. 3 seed David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, and won over the sparse crowd with his gutsy play, including a diving save at the net that brought him to 5-1 in the final set.
On the other side of the draw, a confident Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand slammed home 11 aces on his way to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over South Korea's Lee Hyung-taik.
The win earned him a semifinal encounter against Russian Mikhail Youzhny, who cruised past US Open quarterfinalist Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 6-4, 6-2.
Paradorn, Asia's top-ranked men's player, is gunning for his second title of the year, after winning the Nottingham Open in June.
"It's great to win especially in Asia," he said. "I'm happy to see I played better than in previous matches. Hopefully I can reach the final here."
Wismilak
US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova came back from a set down Saturday to overpower fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 6-7(1), 6-1, 6-2 and advance to the Women's Tennis Association Wismilak International final.
The No. 2 seed made a series of unforced errors to lose the first set in a tie break, but quickly recovered in the second, breaking Petrova's serve twice to even the match.
RSS