Nalbandian out but Roddick reaches Vienna semis

VIENNA, Oct 13 (Reuters) Argentine second seed David Nalbandian of Argentina was upset 3-6 6-3 6-1 Fernando Gonzalez in the quarter-finals of the Vienna Open today.

The Chilean will face Andy Roddick in the semi-finals after the third-seeded American defeated Austrian left-hander Juergen Melzer 6-4 6-3.

Nalbandian lacked the serving power of Gonzalez and the fifth seed took advantage of his error-prone opponent in the third set.

The two South Americans looked at home on the slow indoor court, slicing their backhands from the baseline for much of the match.

After the players exchanged breaks in the opening two games, Nalbandian broke to lead 4-2 when Gonzalez made a backhand error.

But he had to fight off three break points before holding for 5-2, and another as he served for the set.

Gonzalez broke Nalbandian to love to lead 5-3 in the second and the Argentine's game fell apart in the decider.

Two quick breaks put the Chilean 3-0 up and left him coasting to victory.

''He was dominating the match until three-all in the second set,'' Gonzalez told reporters.

''I was 4-3, I got a break and then I was back in the match. Then he didn't play good because I think maybe he was a little bit tired because we played many long points.'' Roddick had to work hard against an opponent who frequently came to the net, served well and made few unforced errors.

The US Open finalist needed patience and had to wait until 5-4 to earn the first break point of the match, when Melzer netted a forehand and then double-faulted.

In the second set, Roddick played a poor game to drop his serve and fall 2-1 behind. He immediately broke back, and a further break at 4-3 when Melzer netted a forehand left him serving for the match.

''I thought I played okay,'' said Roddick. ''I was a little disturbed early just because he's a different kind of player to who I've played so far, especially him being a lefty.

''His repertoire of shots was keeping me off-balance and I thought he was striking the ball pretty well. But I feel confident going into tomorrow.'' Later today, top seed and defending champion Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia will play Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka, and Stefan Koubek of Austria challenges Slovak Dominik Hrbaty.

REUTERS KD PM0001