Federer, Nalbandian enter Madrid semis

Madrid: World No 1 Roger Federer stayed on target for his 10th title of the year with a 6-3 7-6 win over unseeded American Robby Ginepri in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters on Friday.

The 25-year-old Swiss, who has never won the Madrid title, faces world No 4 David Nalbandian in the semis after the Argentine beat Marat Safin 6-4 6-7 7-6.

Although Ginepri played high-quality tennis, he was unable to match Federer on the big points.

Federer pounced on the first break opportunity to go 5-3 up before serving out to take the opening set.

It was again level pegging in the second until the Swiss moved up a gear to snatch the tiebreak.

The victory was Federer's 80th of the year and extended his winning streak to 17 matches.

"It's great to get another win and it's a sign of the hard work paying off," he said.

"I'm very proud to have walked off the court 80 times as a winner and only five as a loser. It means a lot to me."

Nalbandian claimed only his second victory in eight matches against Russian Safin to gain revenge for defeat in the 2004 final in Madrid.

"I'm getting better with every match but I'll need to be in even better form for tomorrow as it will be very tough," said the Argentine, who has a 6-6 career record with Federer.

Unforced errors

The 24-year-old Nalbandian took advantage of a succession of forehand errors to put Safin under early pressure and take the first set.

Safin, who has recovered to 49th in the world after dropping out of the top 100 this year, rallied to square the match on a tiebreak.

There was nothing between the players in the final set and it boiled down to another tiebreak, won this time by Nalbandian.

The Argentine has now moved up to sixth in the ATP Champions Race, boosting his chances of qualifying for the Masters Cup in Shanghai next month, a title he won last year.

It will also give him confidence for the Davis Cup final against Russia in Moscow in December.

Holder Rafael Nadal meets Czech Tomas Berdych later on Friday while Serb Novak Djokovic takes on 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.