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Friday, May. 02, 2008

Mathieu, Gonzalez reach BMW semis

By Sports Network

Top seeds Paul-Henri Mathieu and Fernando Gonzalez were a pair of quarterfinal winners Friday at the clay-court BMW Open.

The French Mathieu outlasted eighth-seeded Croat Marin Cilic 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, while the Chilean Gonzalez took care of two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 Russian Marat Safin, a wild card this week, 6-3, 7-5 at MTTC Iphitos. The former Australian Open runner-up "Gonzo" is now 5-2 lifetime against Safin, including wins in their last five matches and a 3-0 mark on clay.

Mathieu's semifinal opponent on Saturday will be Italian Simone Bolelli, while Gonzalez will encounter Moroccan qualifier Younes El Aynaoui.

Friday's other quarters saw Bolelli beat Korean Hyung-Taik Lee 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) and the 36-year-old El Aynaoui top Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4, 6-4. The veteran El Aynaoui, the Munich champion back in 2002, will now appear in his first ATP semifinal since October 2003.

The 2008 BMW Open champ will pocket $90,000.