STUTTGART (Germany), Oct 19: Qualifier Max Mirnyi extended his impressive run at the Stuttgart Masters Series tournament with a 6-4 6-2 demolition of Pete Sampras on Friday for a spot in the semifinals.

The powerful 24-year-old from Belarus, who had knocked out top seed Gustavo Kuerten and Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic in the previous rounds, downed booming serves and seized every opportunity to take the net to oust his prestigious opponent in just 66 minutes.

Mirnyi had to save six match points on his way to the quarter-finals but had no frights this time, overpowering the troubled former world number one throughout a one-sided contest.

One of the most intimidating players on the ATP circuit, the towering Mirnyi goes on to meet Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the fifth seed, who moved past Swede Thomas Enqvist 7-5 6-4.

Both players held serve in a tight first set until Sampras dropped it at the worst possible moment with a double fault on set point.

Mirny then confidently moved on top, managing an early break and another one in the final game, wrapping it up with a blistering return winner on the first match point.

Fifth seed Kafelnikov had earlier strengthened his own claim to a Masters Cup berth with a fairly straightforward victory over Enqvist.

Kafelnikov, who was a finalist in Stuttgart in 1998 but has never won a Masters Series title, survived two set points before using a late break to claim the first set.

Enqvist, who won in the southern German city two years ago, had his chances but lacked composure when it mattered.

Friday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

3-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat Wayne Ferreira (South Africa) 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-2; Max Mirnyi (Belarus) beat 9-Pete Sampras (U.S.) 6-4 6-2; 5-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) beat Thomas Enqvist (Sweden) 7-5 6-4

ZURICH: Third seed Lindsay Davenport recovered from a sluggish start to overwhelm Slovakian qualifier Daniela Hantuchova 3-6 6-1 6-1 on Friday and reach the semifinals of the Swisscom Challenge.