In the other half of the draw, second seed Nikolay Davydenko edged past Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to book his spot in the last four where he meets Spaniard David Ferrer.
Davydenko carved out an advantage early on when he broke Hanescu in the first game and held serve to go 2-0 up. He again broke the Romanian, runner-up in Stuttgart last week, to clinch the first set 6-3.
The 28-year-old, without a tournament win this season, served superbly for a set and a half, allowing no single break opportunity for Hanescu, who hung in though to clinch the second set with a solitary break at 2-2.
Davydenko, who has only played a handful of tournaments because of a heel injury early in the year, recovered in the third set, firing a string of baseline winners to break his 28-year-old opponent and clinch victory on his fifth match point.
“It is a good result for me, because I have not played a lot this year. Hanescu played in the final in Stuttgart, so this was very hard for me,” Davydenko said.
Sixth seed Ferrer was the last man to clinch his semi-final spot, ousting German wild card entrant Simon Greul 6-2, 6-3.
■GASTEIN LADIES
AP, BAD GASTEIN, AUSTRIA
Top-seeded Alize Cornet beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 on Friday to reach her first semi-final of the season at the Nuernberger Gastein Ladies.
The 28th-ranked Frenchwoman then served flawlessly and converted both break points in the deciding set.
Cornet, the only seeded player left in the draw, had not won two straight matches since February.
In the semi-finals, Cornet will play Ioana Raluca Olaru of Romania, who defeated No. 6 Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4 for her first semi-final in two years.
Earlier on Friday, Andrea Petkovic rallied to beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-1 and advanced to her first career semi-final.
The seventh-seeded Groenefeld, who reached the final four in Palermo last week, hit 11 double faults. She won only six points on serve in the decider.
The 98th-ranked Petkovic will play Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, who beat 2007 finalist Yvonne Meusburger of Austria 6-2, 6-3.
■SLOVENIA OPEN
REUTERS, PORTOROZ, SLOVENIA
World No. 1 Dinara Safina charged into the Slovenia Open semi-finals by crushing Italian Maria Elena Camerin 6-3, 6-0 on Friday.
“I raised my level in the second set. I played much better, much more aggressive ... I was very focused today and played some good tennis,” the Russian told Slovenian Sport television.
Safina never looked back after reeling off the first three games of the match.
Camerin, 100th in the rankings, had no chance as her powerful opponent kept up her record of not dropping a set in the tournament.
Safina next faces Italy’s Alberta Brianti after she put out France’s Camille Pin 6-3, 6-2.
Swiss Stefanie Voegele ousted Rossana De Los Rios of Paraguay 6-1, 6-1 and next meets holder Sara Errani of Italy who breezed to a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Croatia’s Petra Martic.
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