Sport - Tennis

Feliciano Lopez in semifinals

DUBAI: Feliciano Lopez stunned fourth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Thursday.

Lopez used a powerful serve throughout the match, finishing Ferrer off with an ace.

In another quarterfinal, Nikolay Davydenko earned himself a great chance of reaching only his second ATP Tour final for 17 months on Thursday.

The World No. 5 from Moscow overcame Andy Murray, the giant-killer from Britain, 7-5, 6-4, to become an unexpected semifinalist at the Dubai Open.

Davydenko mixed consistency with aggression with superb attacks from the baseline against an opponent who had eliminated world number one Roger Federer in the first round.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray all reached the quarterfinals.

The second-ranked Nadal easily beat Mikhail Ledovskikh of Russia 6-4, 6-0, while Djokovic defeated Fabrice Santoro of France 6-3, 7-6(3).

The second-ranked Spaniard will next face Roddick, who served 13 aces to beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 6-4.

In the quarterfinals, Djokovic will face Igor Andreev of Russia, who beat Richard Gasquet of France 6-3, 6-4.

Murray, who beat top-ranked Roger Federer on Monday in the first round, defeated Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5).

In doubles action, the fourth seeded pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles won its first round match beating Jordan Kerr and Rogier Wassen 6-4, 6-3.

India’s other participant in the doubles event Rohan Bopanna, playing with his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq-Qureshi, squandered a one-set lead advantage against top seeded pair of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonzic to bow out of the championships. The Indo-Pakistan combine lost to Canadian-Serbian duo 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-10 in a thrilling quarterfinal encounter, which lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

At Los Angeles, second seed and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt was upset 6-3, 7-5 by Frenchman Julien Benneteau to cap a day of surprises at the Tennis Channel Open on Wednesday. Australian Hewitt, a three-time winner of the tournament, had reached the final in five of his six previous appearances in the event.

The results:

At Dubai (ATP Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships): Singles: Quarterfinals: Nikolay Davydenko bt Andy Murray 7-5, 6-4; Feliciano Lopez bt David Ferrer 6-4, 6-3. Quarterfinals: Feliciano Lopez bt David Ferrer 6-4, 6-3.