15 May 2004	Saturday	24 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

HAMBURG, May 14: World number one Roger Federer showed his class by crushing Carlos Moya 6-4 6-3 on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Hamburg Masters.

The quarterfinal clash between the top two players in the ATP Race lasted just over an hour, Federer playing close to perfection to underline his status as a favourite for the French Open starting on May 24.

The talented Swiss all-rounder goes on to meet former world number one Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, who ended the surprise run of unheralded Austrian Juergen Melzer with a 6-4 6-3 victory.

Defending champion and second seed Guillermo Coria of Argentina also advanced easily with a 6-2 6-2 victory over unseeded Spaniard David Ferrer, his 15th win in as many matches on clay this season.

Coria, who has been nursing an abdominal injury and is playing his first tournament since winning the Monte Carlo Masters last month, next plays Croatian Ivan Ljubicic or Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

Spaniard Moya, the winner of the Rome Masters last week, looked a bit tired after a busy schedule but did not seek excuses after being swept aside by Federer.

Federer, who made his career breakthrough by winning the Hamburg tournament two years ago, has now beaten Moya four times in as many encounters. Friday's match was their first meeting on clay.

Both players held serve in a tight first set until Moya handed Federer three break points in the 10th game.

The Wimbledon and Australian Open champion wasted the first two before hitting a forehand crosscourt winner on the third to take the set.

A double fault by Moya enabled Federer to open a 2-0 in the second set. He then stayed on top until Moya bowed out by sending a backhand wide on the first match point.

Quarterfinal results

Guillermo Coria (Argentina) bt David Ferrer (Spain) 6-2 6-2; Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) bt Juergen Melzer (Austria) 6-4 6-3; Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Carlos Moya (Spain) 6-4 6-3

Zvonareva in semis

ROME: Russian eighth seed Vera Zvonareva clinched a place in the last four of the Rome Masters on Friday after beating Italian 14th seed Francesca Schiavone in straight sets at the Foro Italico.

Zvonareva, who reached the quarter-finals of the French Open last year, won 6-3, 6-3 and will play either French second seed Amelie Mauresmo or Italian 10th seed Silvia Farina Elia in the semi-finals.

Making her first appearance in Rome, Zvonareva lost the opening game on her serve, but recovered from her early setback to win the next five in a row for a 5-1 lead.

Schiavone stopped the rot by winning the next two games, but Zvonareva ended the Italian's fightback on her next service game, closing out the set with a powerful angled backhand.

Leading 1-0 in the second set, Schiavone had break point but failed to take her chance and games went with serve until the fifth game when the Russian tightened her grip on the match.

Dominating the baseline rallies, Zvonareva broke for a 3-2 lead and held on to her serve before breaking Schiavone once more to seal the match.-Reuters