INDIAN WELLS, March 19: Fifth seed Andre Agassi produced a superb display of all round tennis to beat Guillermo Coria 6-4 7-5 at the Pacific Life Open on Thursday and set up a semifinal with top seed Roger Federer.

World number one Federer eased passed Argentina's Juan-Ignacio Chela 6-2 6-1 in the first of the men's quarterfinal matches. Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne needed to call upon all her reserves to edge past Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 7-5 in the women's quarterfinals.

Agassi's willingness to charge to the net earned him the win over 21-year-old Coria, who matched the American groundstroke for groundstroke during most of the contest.

With fourth seed Coria serving at 5-4 down in the first set, Agassi wowed the a record night crowd of 13,395 when he pulled the Argentine up to net with a perfectly placed drop shot and then lifted a deft topspin lob over his opponent's head.

Agassi then won the set when he forced Coria into a forehand error. The 2001 champion broke Coria to 6-5 in the second set and won the contest when with a 122mph ace.

Agassi and Federer have played five times, with the American winning their first three contests and Federer winning their last two, both at the Tennis Masters Cup Houston, which he went on to win.

After a storming start, Henin-Hardenne had to fight off three set points in the second set against Kuznetsova, who handed the world number one her only defeat of the season two weeks ago in Doha.

Results

Men's quarterfinals Andre Agassi (U.S.) bt Guillermo Coria (Argentina) 6-4 7-5; Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) 6-2 6-1

Women's quarterfinals Anastasia Myskina (Russia) bt Conchita Martinez (Spain) 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-3; Justin Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) bt Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-4 7-5. -Reuters