Jankovic advances to Moscow semis; Safin takes out reigning champ

"Much depended on my serve in this match," Safin said. "I had few chances against him on the baseline. My only chance was to attack him, risk and hold my serve."

Safin had 17 aces.

"He (Safin) controlled the match," Davydenko said. "I was surprised that Marat has shown his tennis of the best quality."

Safin will next play Mischa Zverev of Germany, who saved two match points and rallied from 5-1 down in the third set to advance to his first career ATP tour semifinal match with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Viktor Troicki of Serbia.

"At 5-1 down I just relaxed and was almost at home in my thoughts," Zverev said. "He (Troicki) was so close to winning that I decided to take advantage of it and attack him. And it worked perfectly this time."

Fabrice Santoro won the first set 6-3 and was 2-0 up in the second when fourth-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu retired because of illness.

"The first set was my best performance here so far," Santoro said. "I was serving well while he (Mathieu) was obviously out of form and could not return at full strength."

Santoro, who will turn 36 in December, won his only title this season in Newport, Rhode Island, in July. He will next face Igor Kunitsyn of Russia, who beat Jeremy Chardy of France 6-4, 6-2.