Russian second seed Nikolay Davydenko eased past Juergen Melzer from Austria 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semifinals of the World Indoor Tournament Friday. He will take on third seed Robin Soderling for a place in Sunday's final, after the Swedish world No. 8 needed 49 minutes to wrap up a 6-0, 6-1 win over Julien Benneteau. Sixth-seeded Michael Youzhny, the 2007 champion, ousted No. 4 Gael Monfils 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. The Russian will face top-seeded Novak Djokovic, who advanced to the semifinals after his quarterfinal opponent Florian Mayer withdrew with a leg injury. Davydenko initially struggled with Melzer's serve after dropping his own service game. But he regained control following a long sixth game to register his third straight sets win in Rotterdam. “Melzer played some good points in the beginning and I still struggle with the circumstances on court,” Davydenko told reporters, explaining his awkward start to the match. “It might not show from the stands seeing my performance but it is how I feel on court.” Soderling had a breakout season in 2009, ending Rafa Nadal's four-year hold on the French Open, but has struggled recently with first round exits in Chennai and the Australian Open. “A perfect match does not exist but this was my best match of the year so far, though I still have things to improve,” Soderling said. “My poor start to the year was mainly caused by mental tiredness as I lacked enough rest after a long and good season, but my early exit in Australia gave me the time I needed.” Dementieva in semis Top-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia rallied to beat Andrea Petkovic of Germany 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 Friday to reach the semifinals of the Open GDF Suez. Flavia Pennetta also advanced, outclassing Tathiana Garbin 6-1, 6-3 in an all-Italian quarterfinal. She will next face Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, who cruised past Shahar Peer of Israel 6-3, 6-0. Dementieva will meet American teenager Melanie Oudin, who topped Agnes Szavay of Hungary 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. Roddick in quarters Andy Roddick reached the quarterfinals for the eighth time in nine tries at the SAP Open by defeating Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 6-1 in the second round Thursday. The top-seeded Roddick is on course to become the fourth player to win the tournament at least four times. American compatriot Sam Querrey, seeded seventh, also progressed to the last eight with a 6-4, 6-4 win over another American Taylor Dent in their first career meeting. Querrey also reached the quarters of this event last year. A third US player, Michael Russell, also won through by beating Belgian veteran Xavier Malisse 6-4, 7-5. Fernando Verdasco beat Benjamin Becker 7-5, 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal against Lithuania's Ricardas Bernakis – ranked 255 in the world – who defeated Germany's Bjorn Phau 7-6 (5), 6-3. In the other quarterfinals, Phillipp Kohlschreiber will play Dennis Istomin and Querrey will face Russell. Matches washed out Rain has washed out the entire day's play in the Brazil Open, an ATP outdoor tournament set on clay in the north of Brazil. Officials said Thursday they would attempt to stage the four second-round matches Friday. Four players advanced to the quarterfinals Wednesday – top-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, No. 4 Igor Andreev of Russia, No. 6 Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Argentine qualifier Carlos Berlocq. Zvonareva beats Bammer Top-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia secured a 6-0, 7-5 (5) quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Sybille Bammer of Austria Friday in the Pattaya Open at the Dusit Thani Hotel. In other matches, Tamarine Tanasugarn kept the Thai challenge alive after she beat Ana Chakvetadze of Russia 6-1, 6-4. Tamarine will next play Sesil Karatantcheva of Kazakhstan. Karatantcheva managed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 victory over Ekaterina Bychkova of Russia.
