Former World No. 1 Marat Safin snapped a four-match losing streak against three-time champion Nikolay Davydenko, currently No. 5 in the ATP 2008 Race, with a 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4 victory Friday for a place in the ATP Kremlin Cup semifinals against Mischa Zverev.

Seventh seed Safin struck 17 aces and saved four of seven breakpoints in recording his 23rd win of the season (23-21 mark).

The 28-year-old, who finished runner-up in Moscow to Davydenko in the 2006 final, is making his 11th appearance at his hometown event. He has a 16-10 tournament record.

Davydenko, who is close to securing one of four remaining berths at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, dropped to 17-3 at the tournament. The two-time defending champion and 2004 winner, won 36 of 106 points on return of serve and hit six doubles faults. He dropped to 49-17 on the 2008 season.

Safin will next meet World No. 98 Mischa Zverev, who saved two match points as he battled into his maiden ATP semifinal with a hard fought 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Serbian Viktor Troicki.

The Moscow-born German trailed 1-5 in the third set and during the sixth game had fallen to the ground and cut open the knuckles on his left hand.

Upon resumption, he saved two match points while serving at 1-5,before breaking the 22-year-old Troicki to love in the eighth game to lessen the deficit to 3-5.

Troicki failed to serve out the match at the second time of asking, saving five break points before being broken again, and Zverev secured a third straight break to close out the match 7-5 after 2 hours and 27 minutes.

Elsewhere, Frenchman Fabrice Santoro reached his third ATP semifinal of the season after his compatriot Paul-Henri Mathieu retired due to illness with Santoro leading 6-3, 2-0.

Santoro will next meet Igor Kunitsyn, who turned 27 last week.

(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2008)