Davydenko beats Mirnyi to reach Kremlin semis

MOSCOW, Oct 13 (Reuters) Top seed Nikolay Davydenko will face veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro in the semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup after both came through their matches in the Olympic Stadium today.

Russian hopes suffered a blow in the women's draw, however, when US Open champion Maria Sharapova was forced to pull out of her quarter-final with a foot injury.

Davydenko, chasing a place in the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai next month, beat Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-3 7-5 to edge closer to his sixth final of the year.

The Russian stands fifth in the ATP Champions Race and victory in Moscow would go a long way to securing a place in the eight-man finale.

Santoro, the 33-year-old seventh seed, booked his place in the last four with a 6-3 7-5 defeat of Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Former world number one Marat Safin is in quarter-final action later against Serbian Janko Tipsarevic while Igor Kunitsyn plays Arnaud Clement.

Anna Chakvetadze moved into the semi-finals without hitting a ball when Sharapova withdrew injured.

The 19-year-old second seed had complained of a pain in her right foot after her second round victory.

''I will not be able to step out on the court today. If I'm not able to give 100 per cent, I'd rather not play at all,'' she was quoted as saying on the tournament's Web site.

There was better news for compatriot Nadia Petrova who reached the semi-finals with a 7-5 6-1 defeat of Vera Zvonareva.

REUTERS AY ND1822