MOSCOW: In a quarterfinal match-up between the two highest-seeded players left in the tournament, Lucie Safarova edged Svetlana Kuznetsova in a tight two-setter at the Kremlin Cup.

After the departure of the Top 3 seeds — Dominika Cibulkova, Ekaterina Makarova and Flavia Pennetta — the No.4 and No.5 seeds, Safarova and Kuznetsova, respectively, were left as the title favorites. And in an unfortunate situation they were drawn to compete against each other in the quarterfinals.

That quarterfinal took place on Friday afternoon and the two players put on a show, going toe to toe with their massive forehands across two close sets — and early on it was all Kuznetsova, who broke serve in the second game of the match and rode that break to a commanding 4-1 lead in the first set.

Safarova bounced back, reeling off five games in a row to steal the set, 6-4, and hung tough with Kuznetsova throughout the second set, neither player budging on serve through 10 games. But at 5-all Safarova pounced with the only break of the second set, then served it out for a 6-4, 7-5 victory.

Standing between Safarova and the final this week will be Irina-Camelia Begu, who rallied from a first set blowout to beat Tsvetana Pironkova in the first quarterfinal match of the day, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Begu had never been to the quarterfinals or a Premier-level event before, let alone the semifinals.

Safarova and Begu will be playing against each other for the first time.

Troicki into Vienna last four

Viktor Troicki took a big step in his return from tennis exile on Friday as he beat Thomaz Bellucci 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (2/7), 6-2 at the Austrian Open to reach his first semifinal since 2011.

The number 127, who has crawled back up the ATP ranks after returning in July after a one-year ban for delaying a post-match blood test in 2013, will await a winner from second seed Andy Murray and German Jan-Lenneard Struff.

Murrany and top seed David Ferrer are fighting for spots in the eight-man World Tour Finals next month in London, with three places remaining in the field.

Both entered on wild cards from organizers.

Troicki, 28, made his return to the ATP with just 20 ranking points remaining last July thanks to a wild card from Gstaad organizers.

He reached the quarterfinals in Switzerland and did the same last month in Shenzhen, China.

A Beijing wild card produced a first-round win, with Troicki capitalizing on success from qualifying to carve his way through the Vienna event upon his debut.

The Serb last played a semifinal at Moscow, 2011.

“It’s great to win,” said the player who was stoutly defended during his ban by world No.1 and good friend Novak Djokovic.

“I’ve not played a semifinal in a long time.

“It means that much more if you come from qualifiers. I’m really happy to be doing so well in a big event with such top players.

“I’m feeling good and looking forward to the next match. I’m still fresh on court and even after a long match today (almost two-and-a-half hours) I think I could have gone more.

“My comeback has been tough but I always knew it would be like this: you have to come from the bottom if you want to arrive at the top.”