Moya, the Spanish number two seed, needed just 80 minutes to beat the dangerous Russian, who won on clay at Estoril earlier this month and had not lost a set going into the quarter-finals.
Agustin Calleri will be Moya’s opponent in the last four, after the Argentine 16th seed beat Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-7 6-4 6-4.
Calleri lost an untidy first set 7-1 on the tie-break but took control of the second in game five after 12th seed Robredo made two unforced errors on the forehand and another two on the back to lose his service to love.
Calleri built on his 3-2 lead to take the set in 42 minutes and moved quickly into a 2-0 lead in the decider. The Argentine maintained that advantage to clinch victory in two hours 27 minutes.
Moya’s victory was simple by comparison and he will be a strong favourite to go on and reach the final at Barcelona for the second time, following his defeat to Juan Carlos Ferrero two years ago.
After a nervous start that saw an early break of serve apiece, Moya moved into a 5-3 lead and closed out for the set in 36 minutes.
Davydenko was matching Moya for power but he was let down by his inaccuracy and the Spaniard broke again in game three for a 2-1 lead as the Russian put two backhands long.
Moya gave his opponent a break-point chance in the next but his serve got him out of trouble and he went on to complete a comprehensive victory.
The other two quarterfinals pitched top seed Ferrero against three-times French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten and Russia’s Marat Safin against defending champion Gaston Gaudio of Argentina.
Results: Carlos Moya bt Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 6-4; Agustin Calleri bt Tommy Robredo 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-4; Carlos Ferrero bt Gustavo Kuerten 6-4 6-4
AGASSI IN QUARTERFINALS
HOUSTON: Andre Agassi coasted into the quarterfinals of the U.S. men’s Clay Court Championships with a 6-0 6-2 demolition of Georgian lefthander Irakli Labadze on Thursday.
After losing their only previous meeting two years ago in Shanghai, Agassi needed only 51 minutes to record his 20th win of the season.
“Every match is so different,” the top-seeded American said. “It was the first round in Shanghai and he was hitting the ball better than I was that day.”
Agassi never lost his serve and broke Labadze three times in the opening set and twice in the second.
Agassi will meet the winner of the match between American Todd Martin and Brazilian qualifier Ricardo Mello.
“I guess I was a little nervous out there today,” Labadze said. “I am disappointed because I played well in my first match of the tournament.”
American Mardy Fish got his second career ATP claycourt victory, defeating Peru’s Luis Horna 6-2, 6-4.
“Horna is a claycourter,” Fish said. “He is very fast and gets a lot of balls back. Overall, I thought I played pretty solid. I came to the net and put pressure on him.”
Fish will play Denmark’s Kenneth Carlsen or Jurgen Melzer of Germany in his third quarterifinal appearance of the year.
Second Round result:
Andre Agassi (USA x1) bt Irakli Labadze (GEO) 6-0, 6-2 — Reuters