MADRID, 22 October 2005 — American Robby Ginepri produced an immaculate exhibition of controlled power tennis to see off Spain’s David Ferrer 6-1, 6-4 and earn himself a place in the semifinals of the Madrid Masters yesterday.

Ginepri will meet the winner of the clash between top seed Rafael Nadal and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, who play later.

The powerful American was joined by the in-form Croatian Ivan Ljubicic who fought his way from a set down to clinch a 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory over Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez.

Ljubicic, who has won back-to-back tournaments in Metz and Vienna, will face either fifth-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian or his big serving compatriot Ivo Karlovic in tomorrow’s semifinal.

Earlier a highly focused Ginepri, who upset third seed Nikolay Davydenko in the third round, made an impressive start at the Madrid Arena, holding his serve to love in the opening game and then breaking in the second.

The 23-year-old 16th seed showed no signs of weakness on his own serve and always had Ferrer under pressure on his.

He stretched the Spaniard around the court with his high velocity groundstrokes and broke again in the fourth on his way to a 5-0 lead.

Ginepri, who lost to Andre Agassi in five sets in the semi-final of this year’s US Open, then served out to take the set 6-1 after forcing Ferrer into a string of errors.

Ferrer beat sixth seed Mariano Puerta on his way to the quarters, but he was never given the chance to find the sort of rhythm that took him to a victory over the Argentine as Ginepri pinned him to the baseline and dominated at the net.

Ginepri, who won his previous two meetings with Ferrer, broke again in the fifth game of the second set, kept the tempo high and weathered some late pressure from the Spaniard when he was serving for the match.

Gonzalez became the first man to break Ljubicic’s serve this week and end the Croatian’s 81-game service winning streak when he broke in the seventh game on his way to taking the opening set.

The Chilean, who recorded his first win in six attempts over fourth seed Guillermo Coria in the third round, broke again in the first game of the second set and seemed to be heading for a comfortable victory.

But Ljubicic turned the tide when he broke back and went on to take the second set on a tie-break 7-2.

With his tail now up he broke in the fifth game of the decisive third set and held firm to serve out and win through to the semis in Madrid for the second year in succession.

Myskina Beats Dementieva

to Reach Zurich Semis

Seventh seed Anastasia Myskina edged past fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 to reach the semifinals of the Zurich Open yesterday.

Myskina has known her fourth-seeded rival since childhood and their clashes are rarely memorable.

Yesterday’s encounter proved to be no different, with both struggling to gain the upper hand in a match littered with errors.

“It’s every time like this between us,” said Myskina. “We grew up together, we play together, we still compete together, so it’s tough between us.”

After losing a 38-stroke exchange midway through the second set, Myskina responded by cracking her racket.

Dementieva, who won their last meeting in Moscow last week but had conceded their previous four matches, looked the better player tactically but failed to establish any consistency in the seesaw contest.

Myskina gained a 5-2 lead in the final set but within minutes she dropped her serve to love.

With Dementieva unable to capitalize on the break, Myskina held her nerve to clinch the match on her second attempt.

Serb teenager Ana Ivanovic took just 64 minutes to humble Slovenia’s Katarina Srebotnik 6-3, 6-1.

Although she began by hitting a double-fault on the first point and dropping her opening service game, Ivanovic soon dominated with her serve and stronger baseline game.

She broke Srebotnik, who had upset second seed Amelie Mauresmo in the previous round, twice in the first set before sealing it with her seventh ace.

Trailing 3-0 in second set, Srebotnik was treated for a right abdominal strain and the delay momentarily disrupted Ivanovic’s rhythm.

She fell behind 15-40 when play resumed, but two strong serves put her back to deuce and she went on to break to love in the final game to reach her first Tier One semifinal.

Alicia Molik, who won the Zurich Open last year to claim her biggest career title, will take an extended break from the game in the hope she can shake off a virus that affects her balance.

Since returning to the tour after a break of several months the Australian No. 1 has managed to win only one match in seven events, and she left the court in tears after failing to complete her opening match when she began the defense of her title this week.