No. 2 seed
Nikolay Davydenko remained the favorite Friday at the ATP stop in Rotterdam, though showed fatigue in rolling past Italian qualifier
Daniele Bracciali 6-4, 6-2 to gain the semifinals.
"The result was good but I wasn't satisfied about my play," Davydenko said. "I felt a bit tired, therefore it was hard to concentrate today. I know I have to improve my game for the semifinal."
No. 6
Radek Stepanek was the only other seed into the semis after edging Serb qualifier
Novak Djokovic 7-6 in the third.
"This was a very even match, with both players serving well," Stepanek said. "I really wanted the revenge because I lost to him in Zagreb and I had to fight until the end to reach that goal. Djokovic was moving incredibly well."
Rounding out the semis were Belgium's
Christophe Rochus (d. (LL) Parmar) and Finn
Jarkko Nieminen (d. O.Rochus 7-6 in the third).
Matched up in the Saturday semifinals are (6) Stepanek vs. (2) Davydenko (Davydenko leads career meetings 3-2), and C.Rochus vs. Nieminen (Rochus leads 1-0).
