No. 1 Davydenko, No. 7 Safin advance to set up Quarterfinal showdown in Moscow

The highly anticipated quarterfinal showdown between two-time defending champion Nikolay Davydenko (pictured) and Marat Safin will take place on Friday, as both players advanced this afternoon at the ATP Kremlin Cup in Moscow. Igor Kunitsyn was another Russian player that was successful in reaching the quarterfinals after a win today.

No. 1 seed Davydenko improved to 17-2 lifetime at the Kremlin Cup after crushing Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-1, 6-1, in 55 minutes. The Russian smashed four aces, while dropping only three points on his first serve. Davydenko was also able to break serve on five of ten opportunities. A three-time champion in Moscow, Davydenko improves to 49-16 on the season as he looks to clinch one of the final four spots remaining for the year-end Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. The owner of three singles titles this year, Davydenko is looking to become the first champion in Moscow to win three straight years since Yevgeny Kafelnikov did it. Davydenko will battle Safin for a place in the semifinals.

No. 7 seed Safin defeated Frenchman Julien Benneteau, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2, in just under 90 minutes. Safin smashed 11 aces, while Benneteau could only fire up six aces. Along with the strong performance in the aces department, Safin was able to win 82 percent of his first serve points and broke serve three different times throughout the match. Safin, a former World No. 1 and two-time grand slam champion, is looking to reach his first ATP singles final since losing in the championship match here in 2006 to Davydenko. Safin, who is playing in Moscow for the 11th time, improves to 21-21 on the season, which is highlighted by a semifinal performance at Wimbledon earlier this year. For a place in the semifinals, Safin will have to beat Davydenko for the first time since defeating him at the Masters Series Indian Wells in 2006. Davydenko owns a 4-2 series edge on Safin, winning the last four matches, including a straight sets win in May in the second round of the French Open.

Other winners on Thursday included Kunitsyn and No. 4 seed Paul-Henri Mathieu. Kunitsyn beat recently turned 26-year-old Robby Ginepri, 6-4, 6-3. In the 80-minute battle, the Russian was able to break the American on six occasions. He will next face Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who came from behind to upset No. 2 seed Igor Andreev in three sets. Mathieu, who reached the finals last week in Metz, defeated Beijing runner-up Dudi Sela of Israel, 6-7(3), 7-5, 7-6(0), to improve his Moscow record to 14-3. In his debut in Moscow in 2002, Mathieu won the title and has since put up strong performances that included reaching the finals last year and reaching the semifinals in 2003. Next up for Mathieu is fellow Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, who cruised to an easy, 6-2, 6-4, winner over qualifier Denis Istomin.