Davydenko continues march towards Moscow title
Davydenko is on course to retain his title in Moscow
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Saturday, 13, Oct 2007 12:06
Nikolay Davydenko continued his winning run in the Kremlin Cup beating fellow Russian Igor Andreev 7-5 7-5 in the quarter-finals in Moscow.
The defending champion converted six of nine break points to secure a place in the semi-finals against Andy Murray's conqueror, Janko Tipsarevic who beat Radek Stepanek 6-4 3-6 6-3.
Despite Davydenko's dominance Andreev continued to battle in each set, breaking back at vital times and forcing his compatriot to go the distance.
However, the defending champion had the necessary answers and avoided a tiebreak in each instance to claim a satisfying win.
"Towards the end of the match we fought over every point and I was more concentrated which played the key role," said Davydenko.
The Russian is still searching for his first tour win this season, having lost to Roger Federer in his previous two semi-finals this season he will hope to have better fortune against Tipsarevic on home turf.
The other semi-final will be contested by fourth-seed Paul-Henri Mathieu of France and German Michael Berrer.
Mathieu beat compatriot Florent Serra 6-3 6-3 with relative ease. The 25-year-old hit ten aces and broke Sera's serve three times on route to his fifth semi-final of the season.
Berrer progressed to his first ever tour semi-final after Philipp Kohlschreiber was forced to retire in their quarter-final.
The world number 72 had already won the first set 6-3 when his fellow German handed him the match.