Wildcard Marat Safin [Images] beat second seeded Argentine Gaston Gaudio 6-4, 6-4 in a high-powered quarter-final at the Valencia claycourt Open on Friday.The big-serving Russian, who beat last year's winner Igor Andreev in the first round, will now face Spanish qualifier Nicolas Almagro in his first semi-final appearance of the season.
Earlier Almagro booked his place in the last four with a 6-4, 6-1 win over sixth seed Filippo Volandri.
The Spaniard, who beat former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero in the first round, eased past the Italian in one hour 11 minutes.
Gilles Simon had a tougher time as he edged out Italy's [Images] Andreas Seppi 7-6, 7-6 in his semi.
The Frenchman will play the winner of the all-Spanish duel between Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in Saturday's semi-final.
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