Rusedski Only Un-seed Into ATP Moscow Semifinals

Brit Greg Rusedski continued to pick up momentum in his comeback from being falsely accused of drug doping earlier this year by the ATP, Friday upsetting No. 2 seed Joachim "Pim-Pim" Johansson 7-6(5), 6-7(1), 7-6(7), saving a match point en route to reach the ATP Moscow semifinals.

"Down 5-1 in the final set tiebreaker I played some great points and managed to win 9-7 so I am very, very pleased," Rusedski said.

Pim-Pim stayed upbeat after the loss.

"I've not been playing at my best level here in Moscow but it is disappointing to lose such a close match," Johansson said. "I still think I have chances to qualify for the Masters Cup, everything will come down in Madrid and Paris."

The other three players into the semifinals were all seeded in (3) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty (d. (WC) Kunitsyn), and two Russians in (5) Mikhail Youzhny (d. Carlsen), and (8) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Stepanek in three).

"It feels very good to have the crowd on my side, it helps a lot, that's one of the reasons why I won today," Youzhny said. "I have broken the habit of losing in the first round in Moscow so I am very happy."

On tap for the semifinals Saturday are (8) Davydenko vs. (5) Youzhny in an all-Russian (Davydenko leads career meetings 1-0), and (3) The Dominator vs. Rusedski (Brit leads meetings 2-0).