DOHA, 7 January 2005 — World No. 1 Roger Federer cruised into the semifinals of the Qatar Open yesterday with a 6-1, 6-2 demolition of Spanish seventh seed Feliciano Lopez.

The Swiss, who dominated last season with three Grand Slam titles, reeled off a succession off winners to outclass Lopez and set up a semifinal clash with Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko.

Federer, who lost in the quarterfinal in his only other appearance at the Qatar Open in 2003, broke Lopez in the fourth and sixth games to take the first set 6-1.

Lopez showed glimpses of fighting spirit early in the second when he held his first service game and came close to breaking Federer, but the Swiss saved a break point and promptly broke the Spaniard in the following game to seize control.

“I think I played better than on Wednesday against (Greg) Rusedski,” said Federer. “I was able to put pressure on him from the first serve and I am happy that I am playing so well.”

Davydenko upset third seed Sebastien Grosjean of France 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

In the day’s two other quarterfinals sixth-seeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic battled past teenage Spaniard Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 while former French Open champion Albert Costa came through against wily Frenchman Fabrice Santoro who retired trailing 2-6, 0-3 with a wrist injury.

France’s Mathieu Upsets Fifth Seed Carlsen in Madras

France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu made up for last year’s injury frustration here with a 6-3, 7-5 upset win over fifth seed Kenneth Carlsen to reach the quarterfinals of the ATP $400,000 Chennai Open yesterday.

The 22-year-old Mathieu had to retire in the first round against the Danish left-hander in the 2003 event due to a wrist injury which sidelined him for seven months.

The Frenchman, ranked 123rd in the world, next faces world number five and defending champion Carlos Moya, whom he beat during the Davis Cup semifinal defeat against Spain last year.

Kristof Vliegen of Belgium saved two match points to topple sixth seed Yen-Hsun Lu of Taipei 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 in a two-hour-and-15-minute duel to oust all but the top two seeds in singles.

The 116th-ranked Vliegen, 22, cleverly mixed his game to escape twice from 2-5 down as the 21-year-old Lu, regarded as a rising talent from Asia, completely choked.

The Belgian next plays second seed Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, the 2003 winner, who outclassed Nicolas Devilder of France 6-3, 6-2.

Venus Williams Struggles in Hong Kong Opener

Venus Williams received a huge fright before edging out Russia’s Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in her opening match of the Watsons Water Champions Challenge Thursday as she began a shaky start to her title defense.

The 24-year-old American needed to call upon all her talent, power and artistry before seeing off the world No. 11 Zvonareva, who came within a whisker of scoring a famous victory.

Zvonareva led 5-3 in the third set and only had to hold serve in the 10th game to win the contest, but Williams dug deep into her resources to eventually seal victory in a 115 minute contest that was full of unforced errors.

Russia’s world number six Elena Dementieva automatically progressed to tomorrow’s final after receiving a walkover from her opponent, Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic.

The 15-year-old Vaidisova withdrew from the tournament with gastroenteritis, giving Dementieva an automatic passage to the final.

Top Seed Petrova Drops Out After Muscle Strain

In Melbourne, top-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova withdrew from her quarterfinal at the Australian women’s hardcourt championships yesterday but said she would still be fit for the Australian Open.

Petrova, who had been scheduled to play fifth seed Silvia Farina Elia at the Gold Coast, pulled out because of a buttock muscle strain.

She said the injury would not affect her preparations for the Australian Open starting in Melbourne on Jan. 17.

Switzerland’s second seed Patty Schnyder defeated 15-year-old Bulgarian qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva 6-2, 6-3 and Australia’s world No. 65 Samantha Stosur beat Bulgarian eighth seed Magdalena Maleeva 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Stosur, 20, was a semi-finalist in the tournament last year.

In the late match, France’s Tatiana Golovin came from behind to beat Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.