Top seed Stanislas Wawrinka fired down 17 aces on his way to beating Argentine eighth seed Guillermo Canas 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) to reach the Gstaad Open semi-finals on Friday.
The home hope was to face Romanian Victor Hanescu, who beat French qualifier Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), yesterday for a place in the final.
World No.10 Wawrinka, who now stands one victory away from a repeat of his 2005 final at this high-altitude resort, came back from a break down in the final set to force a tiebreaker.
The top seed showed his power at the right moment with two more aces on his way to clinching the two-and-a-half-hour victory.
“I was two points away from losing the match when he served for it in the third set,” Wawrinka said. “But I never got worried. I kept fighting and hoping that his level would drop, which it did.”
“In the tiebreak, I don’t think he put in one first serve. I’m not sure if there is a top 10 effect, but I’m playing with a lot of confidence. I’d rather be playing like that than not, certainly,” he said.
Wawrinka and Russian Igor Andreev, a winner over Croatian Marin Cilic, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, are the last two seeds in contention.
Third seed Mikhail Youzhny went down to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez as the Russian lost for a fifth straight match against a Spaniard, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. The 1.98m Hanescu finally has some relief half a year after chronic back problems began to clear.
“I had back problems and was out for eight or nine months in 2006,” said the one-time No.35, who reached a Roland Garros quarter-final three years ago against Roger Federer.
“But I’ve felt good for six months now,” the current number 80 said.
The 26-year-old last made an impression nearly a year ago with a final at home in Bucharest. He improved to 8-14 this season after second-round losses in Paris and Wimbledon.
■HALL OF FAME
AP, NEWPORT,RHODE ISLAND
American Vince Spadea was at his best when he needed to be on Friday, beating Austrian Alexander Peya, 7-6 (3), 7-5, to advance to the semi-finals at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
Spadea was to face defending champion Fabrice Santoro yesterday after 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang was set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame during afternoon ceremonies. Santoro defeated Ivan Navarro, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Spadea’s win over Peya earned him his first trip to a semi-final since Delray Beach last year.
“I played well at the right times,” Spadea said. “I think I’m playing well enough to beat anybody in this tournament.”
The 33-year-old Spadea was broken in the first set to fall behind 4-5, but he broke back in the next game to eventually force the tiebreaker.
In the tiebreaker, Spadea won the first of three consecutive points by converting an overhead smash. Peya was then barely able to get a racket on Spadea’s serve on the next point, tipping the ball short.
Spadea took the tiebreaker after charging the net, forcing Peya to make a desperate forehand bid that sailed wide and closed the opening set.
In the second set, Peya broke Spadea in the third game en route to a 4-1 lead. But Spadea rallied to tie the set at 5-all and took the lead when Peya doubled faulted on consecutive points before hitting a forehand return into the net in the game’s final three points.
Spadea, of Boca Raton, Florida, closed out the match with a backhand slice at the net. His only career title was at Scottsdale in 2004.
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