Soderling sweeps into Valencia semis

Valencia, Spain -- No. 2-seeded Robin Soderling tore through a straight-set win Friday and into the semifinals of the Valencia Open tennis tournament in Spain.

Soderling blitzed No. 8-seeded Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2 in 54 minutes. He won 61 percent of the points in the match and cashed in three of four break-point chances. He's dropped just 15 games over his three matches in getting to Saturday's semifinals.

Fourth-seeded David Ferrer had a tougher time in getting past Potito Starace 7-5, 6-4 in his quarterfinal. He saved both break points Starace caused but was only able to solve Starace's service game twice.

Gilles Simon ousted sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko in a tough 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 decision that took 2 1/2 hours. Simon dropped serve three times but all three came in the second set when he also broke Davydenko's serve three times. He cashed in five of six break-point chances overall.

Marcel Granollers defeated Juan Monaco 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Monaco was dominant in the first set but lost his serve five times in the second and third sets.

Soderling and Ferrer will meet in one semifinal. It'll be the fifth time this year they've played. Soderling has won four of the 2010 matches with Ferrer and is 8-3 in his career against Ferrer. Simon and Granollers have split their two career matches.

Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).

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