Davydenko and Soderling set up semi-final clash

Rotterdam: Russian second seed Nikolay Davydenko eased past Juergen Melzer of Austria 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the World Indoor Tournament on Friday.

He will take on third seed Robin Soderling for a place in Sunday's final, after the Swedish world number eight needed 49 minutes to wrap up a 6-0, 6-1 win over Julien Benneteau.

Davydenko initially struggled with Melzer's serve after dropping his own but regained control following a long sixth game to register his third straight sets win in Rotterdam.

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"Melzer played some good points in the beginning and I am still struggling with the circumstances on court," Davydenko told reporters referring to the speed of the surface.

"It might not show from the stands seeing my performance but it is how I feel on court."

Soderling had a breakout season in 2009, ending Rafa Nadal's four-year hold on the French Open but has struggled recently with first round exits in Chennai and the Australian Open.

"A perfect match does not exist but this was my best match of the year so far, though I still have things to improve," Soderling said.

"My poor start to the year was mainly caused by mental tiredness as I lacked enough rest after a long and good season, but my early exit in Australia gave me the time I needed."

Top seed Novak Djokovic is already through to the semi-finals after his opponent Florian Mayer withdrew with a hamstring injury.

Djokovic will face the tournament's 2007 winner Mikhail Youzhny of Russia who overcame Gael Monfils 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in an entertaining match lasting almost three hours.

Soderling battles to first win of the year

Fourth-seeded Frenchman Monfils fought back from 3-0 behind in the first set to take it after playing some spectacular tennis but suffered from inconsistency in the second.

Sixth seed Youzhny recovered from a break down in the final set to beat the world number 13 before a capacity 9,000 crowd.