Safin derails Davydenko in Kremlin Cup quarterfinals

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:51 PM MOSCOW (Ticker) -- Nikolay Davydenko's reign is over at the Kremlin Cup.

No. 7 Marat Safin rode a powerful serve to knocked off the top-seeded Davydenko, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of this hardcourt event Friday.

A former No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion, Safin fired 17 aces to outlast the two-time defending champion, denying him a fourth shot at the title of this $1 million tournament.

Safin also put an end to two winnings streaks by Davydenko. He ended a four-match skid against the world No. 5, which included a defeat here in the 2006 final.

The world No. 40, Safin improved to 3-4 overall in the series and ended Davydenko's string of 12 straight match victories.

Safin broke Davydenko in the fifth game of the decisive set and held on from there, winning in 2 hours, 28 minutes.

Next up for Safin is unseeded German Mischa Zverev, who posted a stunning 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Viktor Troicki.

Zverev trailed, 5-1, in the final set and faced a pair of match points, but he saved both and broke for a 5-2 deficit. Zverev then broke Troicki two more times to complete the stirring comeback.

"My win is much unexpected for me too," Zverev said. "That moment I thought that the game is over for me. But then I saved two match balls and the game went on."

It is the first ATP semifinal appearance for Zverev, who had lost in his three previous quarterfinals this year.

In another quarterfinal, Fabrice Santoro prevailed in all-French matchup when fourth-seeded countryman Paul-Henri Mathieu retired due to illness with Santoro leading, 6-3, 2-0.

Santoro, who was a semifinalist here in 2006, will face Russian Igor Kunitsyn in the semifinals.

Kunitsyn dominated Jeremy Chardy of France, 6-4, 6-2 in 63 minutes, to move into the semis here for the third time in four years.

First prize is $171,000.