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MADRID, Oct 18: Andre Agassi produced a confident display to beat Spanish favourite Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 6-2 in a one-sided baseline battle and reach the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters Friday.
After an early exchange of breaks American second seed Agassi took a decisive 4-2 lead in the first set when fifth seed Ferrero hit a forehand long on break point.
Ferrero managed to hold serve at the start of the second set before Agassi pulled clear, roaring into a 5-1 lead with a breathtaking array of shots from the back of the court.
Agassi completed victory with an ace down the middle on his first match point to go through to a semi-final clash with seventh-seeded Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean.
Grosjean came through 6-3 7-6 against the big-hitting Argentine qualifier Agustin Calleri to book his place.
He was joined in the last four by 11th-seeded Czech Jiri Novak, who secured a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan.
Quarterfinal results (prefix number denotes seeding, denotes new result):
2-Andre Agassi (U.S.) beat 5-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) 6-3 6-2 11-Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) beat Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-Sebastien Grosjean (France) beat Agustin Calleri (Argentina) 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
ZURICH: Conchita Martinez seized her opportunities to overcome a tired Alexandra Stevenson 7-5 7-5 Friday and clinch a place in the semifinals of the Swisscom Challenge.
The experienced Spaniard became the first woman through to the last four where she will play either Slovakian teenager Daniela Hantuchova or Swiss Patty Schnyder who were scheduled to meet later.—Reuters
