Fifth-seeded Marat Safin cruised to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Kevin Kim on Friday and advanced to the semifinals of the China Open in Beijing.

The Russian will next face Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, who upset third-seeded David Nalbandian 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

In the other quarter-final matches, Paradorn Srichaphan fired 11 aces en route to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Lee Hyung-taik, and Mikhail Youzhny topped Dominik Hrbaty 6-4, 6-2.

Safin has now won three straight-set matches in two days. He played his first and second-round matches Thursday following repeated rain delays.

He dominated Kim with his big serve and booming groundstrokes.

"It was quite easy for me to find my game," Safin said. "I'm playing much better ... so I'm quite confident on the court."

Safin, who won the 2000 U.S. Open, had an injury-plagued 2003 season and his looking for his first title this year. He lost in the first round of this year's U.S. Open.

Kuznetsova moves into Bali semifinals

U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova moved into the semifinals of the Wismilak International with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Angelique Widjaja on Friday in Bali, Indonesia.

Kuznetsova, seeded second, will next play Nadia Petrova, who won her quarter-final match against Tathiana Garbin 6-1, 7-5.

Also, unseeded Maria Elena Camerin pulled off another upset — beating seventh-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Ranked 61st, Camerin earlier eliminated top-seeded Anastasia Myskina.

Camerin will next play Marlene Weingartner, who beat Cho Yoon-jeong 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

Ferrer upset at Romania Open

Florian Mayer beat former champion David Ferrer 6-4, 6-2 Friday in the quarterfinals of the Romania Open.

The second-seeded Mayer, who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals this year, took just over an hour to top Ferrer and move into a semifinal match against fourth-seeded Igor Andreev.

Andreev advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Felix Mantilla.

Also, Filippo Volandri ousted local favorite Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-1 in an hour, and Jose Acasuso defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 7-6 (2).

Ferrer won the event in 2002.

Third-seeded Ancic advances at Millennium

Third-seeded Mario Ancic beat Kenneth Carlsen 6-2, 7-5 Friday to reach the semifinals of the Millennium International Tennis Championships.

The 6-foot-5 Ancic displayed the powerful serve that propelled him to straight-set wins in his first two matches. He registered eight aces and won 86 percent of his first service points.

Carlsen tied the second set at 5-all, but Ancic won the next two games, breaking Carlsen's serve on his third match point attempt.

"In the second set, it was a very even match to the last point," said Ancic, who lost to Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon semifinals. "I'm happy to win and advance to the semis."

The 24th-ranked Ancic had lost in the first round in three consecutive tournaments after Wimbledon. He has never won an ATP Tour title.

Ancic's next opponent will be Ricardo Mello, who beat Jerome Golmard 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 on Friday to earn his first-ever ATP semifinals appearance.

Just as he had in a win over second-seeded Mardy Fish on Wednesday, the left-hander battled back from a first-set loss to earn the victory.

Mello advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open last month before losing to Tommy Haas.

"I'm in a very good moment in my career as a player," Mello said through a translator. "I'm taking good advantage of this moment, and this is increasing my confidence."

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2004)