Nikolay Davydenko of Russia has secured a place in the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, China with a 6-3, 6-4 win over number-seven Gaston Gaudio of Argentina.
The fifth-ranked Davydenko broke Gaudio's serve twice in each set Wednesday on the way to his first-ever win over the 26-year-old Argentine in six matches.
Davydenko has a 2-0 record while Gaudio is 1-1 in round-robin play in the Gold Group, which was decimated by the injury withdrawals of number-two ranked Rafael Nadal of Spain and fifth-ranked American Andre Agassi.
The men who replaced Nadal and Agassi - Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and Argentina's Mariano Puerta - met Wednesday, with Gonzalez winning the match in three sets (6-3, 4-6, 6-0). Gonzalez is now 1-0 in round-robin play while Puerta is 0-2.
Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.