Former world number one Marat Safin defeated Russian compatriot and three-time champion Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4 to reach the Kremlin Cup semifinals on Friday. Seventh seed Safin will now tackle Germany's Mischa Zverev, who reached his first career semifinal with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over Viktor Troicki of Serbia. Fabrice Santoro reached the last four winning an all-French quarterfinal 6-3, 2-0 after Paul-Henri Mathieu retired because of an illness. In the Saturday's match for a place in the final, Santoro will meet unseeded Igor Kunitsyn of Russia, who defeated another Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-2. In the WTA section of the $2.4-million joint event, world number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia set up a semifinal showdown with defending champion Elena Dementieva after beating Italian Flavia Penetta in the quarterfinals. Jankovic, the top seed, was a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 winner over Penetta. Jankovic will now face defending champion and third seed Dementieva, who advanced to the semis with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) win over Nadia Petrova. Dinara Safina of Russia, beat compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 7-5. In the semifinals, Safina will meet another Russian, Vera Zvonareva, who beat Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 7-5, 6-4. Nishikori in semis Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori dismissed his own illness worries to advance into the semifinals of the Stockholm Open without firing a shot on Friday while top seed David Nalbandian was barely tested with a quick victory in just over an hour. Nishikori moved through when his scheduled opponent Mario Ancic, the second seed, withdrew with fever before their match as ill-health continues to compromise the Croatian's career. Top-seeded Nalbandian earned his third ATP victory over Spain's Albert Montanes 6-1, 6-4 with minimal effort to set up a semifinal with Finn Jarkko Nieminen. Nieminen secured a 6-1, 6-4 win over Spaniard Oscar Hernandez. Nishikori next meets Swede Robin Soderling, who put out fifth-seeded German Rainer Schuettler 6-2 7-5. Monfils downs Gonzalez Eighth seed Gael Monfils upset number two Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 7-6 on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Vienna Open. Standing in Monfil's way on Saturday will be German world number 32 Philipp Kohlschreiber who cruised past fifth seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-2, 6-3. German qualifier Philipp Petzschner and unseeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez will meet in Saturday's other match. Petzschner booked his first appearance in an ATP semifinal with a 6-4, 6-2 win over former world number one Carlos Moya. Lopez fought back from a set down to see off Austrian Juergen Melzer 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
