Top seeds Carlos Moya and Gaston Gaudio remained on course on Friday for a 'dream final' at the Estoril Open claycourt tournament in Estoril.
Moya gained revenge for his recent Davis Cup defeat against Paul-Henri Mathieu by beating the Frenchman 6-4, 6-2 in the quarter-finals.
The top seed will face fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo in the last four after he thrashed Italy's Davide Sanguinetti 6-2, 6-2.
Second-seeded Argentine Gaudio disposed of Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 6-2 and now meets another Spaniard, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who knocked out Costa Rican lucky loser Juan Antonio Marin 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.
"I hope to play Moya in the final," French Open champion Gaudio told reporters. "It would be good for the spectators and a nice show for the tournament."
Moya, the 1998 French Open champion, is less keen on a showdown with Gaudio, who already has two claycourt titles to his name this year after wins in Buenos Aires and Vina del Mar.
"If I want to win the tournament I would prefer another guy," said the former world number one.
GOOD FINAL
"But it is true, for the crowd it would be a good final because he is the last winner of the French Open and I won in 1998. But first I have to play another match."
Moya has never dropped a set against Robredo in four previous encounters, a statistic that does not bother his semi-final opponent.
Robredo said: "Every time I played against him [Moya] he was the favourite and I was young. But now I am a bit older and more experienced and feeling a lot better, so we will see how it goes."
Garcia-Lopez has never gone beyond the semi-final stage of an ATP tour event.
"Tomorrow I just have to keep calm," he said.
In the women's event, Argentina's Gisela Dulko moved into the semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-1 rout of China's Zheng Jie.
It was sweet revenge for third seed Dulko, who was embarrassed 6-2, 6-0 by Zheng when they met in the Hobart final in January, the only WTA final either player has reached.
Zheng's compatriot Li Na, the fourth seed, fared better on the unfamiliar clay surface, beating sixth seed Dally Randriantefy of Madagascar 6-3, 6-1.
Li now plays second seed Dinara Safina after the Spanish-based Russian overcame American Jill Craybas 6-4, 6-2.
Qualifier Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic completed the semi-final line-up by ousting Argentine Mariana Diaz-Oliva 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
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