Davydenko, Safin Into Moscow Semis
Posted on October 14, 2006Top seed and 2004 champion Nikolay Davydenko advanced to the semifinals in Moscow Friday after a 6-3, 7-5 win over Max "The Beast" Mirnyi.
"The second set was really tough," Davydenko said of the net-rushing Beast. "I could not break him until 6-5, when he finally missed some first serves and I took advantage of that."
Davydenko will now challenge No. 7 seed Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro of France, who beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-5.
"Santoro will not be like Mirnyi, he plays more from the baseline, he mixes it up, but if I play well I have good chances to win," said Davydenko.
In the bottom half Marat Safin beat Janko Tipsarevic 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 for a semifinal meeting against fellow Russian Igor Kunitsyn. Safin has played nine times at the Kremlin Cup, with semifinal appearances in 2000 and 2002.
"It wasn't easy, Tipsarevic is a good player and is very fast on the court," Safin said. "I really had to go my limits to come through."
Kunitsyn replicated last year's run to the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Arnaud Clement of France.
There are three Russian players in the semifinals for the second consecutive year. It had never happened before last year (tournament started in 1990).
"The second set was really tough," Davydenko said of the net-rushing Beast. "I could not break him until 6-5, when he finally missed some first serves and I took advantage of that."
Davydenko will now challenge No. 7 seed Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro of France, who beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-5.
"Santoro will not be like Mirnyi, he plays more from the baseline, he mixes it up, but if I play well I have good chances to win," said Davydenko.
In the bottom half Marat Safin beat Janko Tipsarevic 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 for a semifinal meeting against fellow Russian Igor Kunitsyn. Safin has played nine times at the Kremlin Cup, with semifinal appearances in 2000 and 2002.
"It wasn't easy, Tipsarevic is a good player and is very fast on the court," Safin said. "I really had to go my limits to come through."
Kunitsyn replicated last year's run to the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Arnaud Clement of France.
There are three Russian players in the semifinals for the second consecutive year. It had never happened before last year (tournament started in 1990).