Third seed Xavier Malisse overcame the foxy Fabrice Santoro to move into the semi-finals of the Chennai Open and set up a clash with Rafael Nadal.
Malisse was frustrated by the deceptive play of Santoro, but finally got the better of the veteran Frenchman, beating him 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 in an hour and 40 minutes.
Nadal then took centre court for another jack-in-the-box performance as he sent Italian Davide Sanguinetti packing with a 6-3, 6-2 victory.
Nadal, who was stretched by India's Karan Rastogi in the second round on Thursday, came up with a much polished show against the 34-year-old Sanguinetti. The Spanish top seed sent down 18 winners before cruising into the final four of the tournament in just 59 minutes.
If Nadal was all punch and gusto, the first quarter-final of the day, put power tennis on the back-burner as Malisse and Santoro played some amazing touch shots and explored the full canvas of the tennis court with remarkable placement.
Sixth seed Santoro, playing his first match on centre court, showed the audience why he was named 'The Magician' by Pete Sampras.
Though not blessed with a strong serve or the power of some his fellow pros, Santoro has hands of a genius. He switches from right to left hand as he pleases, loves the slice and just cuts down the pace on the ball. He played drop shots from the baseline, volleyed well and created angles that were difficult to beat. Despite being plagued by a back injury (he had pulled out of the double draw because of that), the 34-year-old battled it out with his much younger and fitter opponent.
Malisse, who had easy outings in the first two rounds, was tested thoroughly by the Frenchman and he came out "playing his best tennis of the tournament".
The Belgian, one of the most talented players on the tour, let the advantage slip on a number of occasions and struggled to match Santoro's variety. He broke him in the first game of the match and won four of the first five games. Though he dropped the sixth game, he served out the set at 6-4 in 38 minutes.
Malisse again got off to a 2-0 lead but Santoro, who has spent 17 years on tour, kept chipping at his patience. He attacked Malisse's second serve, sometimes advancing in about two feet and taking the ball on the rise. The Belgian, two break points down in the eighth game, served a double fault that helped Santoro level at 4-4. The Frenchman again broke Malisse in the tenth game to take the set 6-4.
In the third set though Santoro could not keep up with the Belgian's speed and wilted in 22 minutes.
Malisse, who meets Nadal next, said he has nothing to lose against the world number two and will come out all guns blazing.
Moya tames Karlovic
Twice champion Carlos Moya advanced to his fourth successive semi-final at the tournament with a solid 6-4, 7-6 victory over Ivo Karlovic.
Moya came back from a set point down in the second set to win the tie-break 8-6 and wrap the match in an hour and 16 minutes.
Though the towering Croat fired 21 aces, Moya came up with a superior all-court game to come out trumps.
"There was a lot of pressure on my serve because I knew one bad game and the set would be over," said Moya.
"The way he plays he does not let you get into any rhythm. I attacked his backhand and tried to take his serve on the forehand. I didn't make too any mistakes and tried to get my first serves so that he could not come into the net very often."
The Spaniard will meet the winner of the match between France's Julien Benneteau and Stefan Koubek of Austria, to be held later in the night.
Austria's Stefan Koubek continued his golden run against the seeds, as he downed fourth seed Julien Benneteau of France 6-1, 6-2.
In the doubles, Malisse and Dick Norman upset top seeds Leos Friedl and Michael Kohlmann 6-3, 6-2 to enter the final.
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