Stepanek and Acasuso reach Hamburg Masters semi-finals

HAMBURG, May 19 (Reuters) Czech Radek Stepanek and Argentina's Jose Acasuso will face each other in the Hamburg Masters semi-finals after both progressed to the last four today.

Stepanek, the 15th seed, beat Max Mirnyi of Belarus 7-6 6-1 while Acasuso battled past Spain's Fernando Verdasco 6-1 6-7 6-3 in chilly conditions on the slow red clay at the Am Rothenbaum.

The 27-year-old Stepanek said the first-set tiebreak had been decisive against the big-serving Belarussian.

''I showed him that I'm the one who's going to go for it and I think that also made his confidence drop after that first set,'' the Czech said.

''I was trying to use that from the beginning of the second set and it worked perfectly and I was controlling the match.'' The unseeded Acasuso raced through the first set against Verdasco but the Madrid-born clay specialist came back from a break down to win the second set tiebreak.

In the decider Acasuso got the crucial break for 5-3 and then closed out the win after two hours 17 minutes.

''After I lost the tiebreak I was a bit angry with myself but I stayed calm as I knew there was a long way to go and all was not lost,'' Acasuso said.

''Obviously I want to take advantage of this moment and I don't want to stop here. I want to go further.'' ''It's going to be difficult (against Stepanek). Anyone who reaches the semis is clearly playing very well.'' In the later quarter-final matches, fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia faces Croatian 12th seed Mario Ancic, while 16th seed David Ferrer takes on eighth seed Tommy Robredo in an all-Spanish clash.

The Hamburg Masters is the nearest warm-up event to the French Open, which starts on May 28, but this year's edition has suffered from the withdrawal of five of the world's top 10.

Roger Federer, the world number one and Hamburg winner the past two years, and French Open champion Rafael Nadal both pulled out due to fatigue following their marathon final in Rome last Sunday, which Nadal won.

REUTERS DKS BD2326