Top-seeded Novak Djokovic saved two match points before beating Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (2) on Friday in the quarter-finals of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy.
Djokovic faced a pair of match points while trailing 5-4 in the third set, but he managed to save both and hold his serve.
"Chela was really great today. I had a bit of luck beating him," Djokovic said.
In the semi-finals, the third-ranked Serb was due play Andreas Seppi, who upset two-time defending champion Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-3.
Also advancing was Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, who beat second-seeded Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Ferrero was due to play Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who rallied to beat 2004 champion Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-4.
Djokovic converted his only break point to win the first set. In the second, he added another break to lead 4-2, but the Argentine then had eight break points and converted two of them to level the match.
Before the start of the third set, Djokovic got medical treatment on a back muscle.
The third-seeded Ljubicic had not lost in Vienna in 12 consecutive matches, winning the event in 2005 and last year.
"I missed some shots I usually make but Seppi played the best tennis of his life," said the Croat, who was sidelined for two weeks before the tournament because of kidney stones. "I was really upset on court. Whatever I tried, it just did not work. We train a lot together, so he knows my game very well."
Seppi reached his second semi-final of the year after losing the final in Gstaad, Switzerland, in July.
"It is great to be the first to beat Ljubicic here," Seppi said. "My game was very consistent and I hardly made any mistakes from the baseline."
The 73rd-ranked Italian broke Ljubicic in the opening game and added another break at 5-3 to win the first set.
Seppi had another break early in the second, and then saved two break points before finishing the match with an ace on his third match point.
Ferrero reached his fourth semi-final of the season by beating last year's finalist Gonzalez.
The 23rd-ranked Spaniard converted the only break chance in the opening set.
Gonzalez failed to convert either of two break points early in the second, but leveled the match when Ferrero hit a forehand wide on another break chance at 5-4.
After an early break in the decider, Ferrero missed three match points at 5-3, but finally finished off the match after saving a break point at 5-4.
Wawrinka rallied from a set down to win a match for the third time this tournament.
"Obviously I need some time to settle down in a match," Wawrinka said.
The 41st-ranked Wawrinka missed a set point in the first-set tiebreaker, but had one break in both the second and the third set to turn the match around.
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