Russian top seed Nikolay Davydenko was ousted from the final US Open tuneup event in a quarterfinal here Thursday, falling in three sets to sixth-seeded American Sam Querrey. Querrey defeated Davydenko 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to book a Friday semifinal berth against the winner of a later match between Frenchman Florent Serra and Jose Acasuso of Argentina at the 1.35 million-dollar ATP/WTA hardcourt tournament. The defeat gives Davydenko the weekend off before Monday's start of the US Open, the year's final Grand Slam tournament. Davydenko, seeded eighth at Flushing Meadows, will play a qualifier in his first-round US Open match. Russian seventh seed Igor Andreev also reached the New Haven semifinals, defeating Argentina's Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3. Andreev will next face either Austrian Jurgen Melzer or Spain's Fernando Verdasco. On the women's side, Elena Vesnina reached the semifinals with a 6-1, 7-5 triumph over Anna Chakvetadze in an all-Russian affair. On Wednesday Fernando Verdasco won through to the quarterfinals of the Pilot Pen tournament with straight sets victory. The second-seeded Verdasco overcame Italy's Andreas Seppi 7-6 (3) 6-2. Verdasco said he had problems with the lights early, falling behind 3-1 in the first set. He got better as the match went on, and was pleased he did not lose momentum during two rain delays, which totaled about an hour and came with him up 3-1 and 4-1 in the second set. “I was just giving my 100 percent to try to finish the match as soon as possible,” he said. “I really played good those three last games.” Verdasco's opponent in the last eight was to be Austria's Jurgen Melzer, who finished strongly to defeat Romania's Victor Hanescu 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-1. The other quarterfinals will see seventh-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia take on Argentina's Leonardo Mayer after both won through Wednesday, while unseeded pair Jose Acasuso of Argentina and France's Florent Serra also advanced to a quarters clash. In the women's draw, top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova needed a third-set tiebreaker to beat Belgian teenager Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (2). Kuznetsova was to play her sometimes doubles partner Amelie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals. Caroline Wozniacki, the defending champion, dispatched Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-1, 6-4, and the Dane was to face France's Virginie Razzano who advanced when fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland retired with a hand injury with their match at a set all. Italian No. 3 Flavia Pennetta beat Iveta Benesova 7-6(1), 6-4 and will face Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova in the last eight. Rybarikova also benefitted from a retirement with the match a set apiece. Her French opponent Marion Bartoli retired down 2-0 in the third with a left thigh strain. WTA officials said Bartoli should be fit for the US Open. Russia's Elena Vesnina won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 over Australia's Samantha Stosur and will take on compatriot Anna Chakvetadze in the quarterfinals.
