Nalbandian clinches rare win over Safin to make semis

MADRID, Oct 20 (Reuters) David Nalbandian claimed only his second victory in eight matches against Marat Safin with a rollercoaster 6-4 6-7 7-6 victory over the Russian to secure a place in the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters today.

The world number four, who lost to Safin in the Madrid final in 2004, will meet either world number one Roger Federer or unseeded American Robby Ginepri in the last four.

The Argentine, who edged a tight three sets victory over Tim Henman in the third round, took advantage of a succession of unforced errors to put Safin under early pressure and take the first set.

Safin's serve and forehand let him down at the start of the second and Nalbandian used his two-handed backhand to help him manufacture a break in the first game.

Safin, ranked a lowly 49 in the world this year, rallied to break back in the fourth after Nalbandian had lost a challenge on the ''hawkeye'' replay equipment only to lose his serve again to trail 4-3.

The mercurial Russia, who made 74 unforced errors in the match, refused to fold, however, broke when Nalbandian was serving for the match and levelled when he took the tiebreak.

There was nothing to separate the two players in the final set and it boiled down to a tiebreak again, but this time Safin's serve failed him and Nalbandian rediscovered his confidence to take the decider 7-2.

The win will provide Nalbandian which a handy points boost as he bids to qualify for the defence of his Masters Cup title in Shanghai next month.

He moves up to sixth in the ATP Race, overtaking James Blake and Tommy Robredo who are out of the Madrid tournament.

It will also give him confidence ahead of the Davis Cup final against Russia in Moscow at the start of December when the pair are likely to meet again.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal, who cruised past Tommy Haas yesterday, meets Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic who has beaten the Spaniard on their last two meetings.

Novak Djokovic, who beat British number one Andy Murray in the third round, takes on 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez who has played just one match this week having received a bye and a walkover on his way to the quarters.

Reuters PDS VV2123