Top-seeded Davydenko, Unseeded Grinders Into ATP St. Poelten Semifinals

Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko (d. (WC) Mantilla) and No. 4 Jurgen Melzer (d. (Q) Sanchez from a set down) advanced to the semifinals Thursday at the ATP stop in St. Poelten, but the real stories were two dirt-grinding un-seeds who won two matches each on the day to punch their semifinal tickets.

A rain-out on Wednesday required multiple players to contest two matches Thursday, with two unseeded players successfully doing double-duty in Argentina's Jose Acasuso, who bested Spaniard Nicolas Almagro and German qualifier Michael Kohlmann in straight sets, and Belgian Christophe Rochus defeating David Sanguinetti and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in straights.

"The key today was that I kept my concentration in the two matches, this morning against Nicolas Almagro and this afternoon against Michael Kohlmann," Acasuso said. "I play next against Nikolay Davydenko who is a very tough opponent. He has been playing extremely well lately, but I feel really confident and am playing well at the moment so I believe in my chances."

Scheduled for the Friday semifinals are (4) Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. Christophe "The Roach" Rochus, and (1) Davydenko vs. Acasuso.

Rochus is now 13-10 on the year, while Davydenko has reached his second consecutive semifinal after the Masters Series-Hamburg.