Defending champion Ivo Karlovic of Croatia beat Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to reach the Slazenger Open semifinals on Thursday. The fourth-seeded Karlovic served 19 aces and lost his serve only once against No. 7 Seppi. Karlovic will face No. 8 Gael Monfils of France, who defeated qualifier Vince Spadea of the United States 7-6 (4), 6-2 at the Wimbledon warmup. Third-seeded Fernando Verdasco beat fifth-seeded Gilles Simon of France 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in their quarterfinal, and the Spaniard will meet unseeded Marin Cilic of Croatia, who won 21 of his 22 first serves in routing Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-1, 6-2. Dementieva advances In Amsterdam, top seed Elena Dementieva eased into the semifinals of the Den Bosch Open on Thursday beating Romanian wild card Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-4. Dementieva next meets fellow Russian and French Open finalist Dinara Safina, who had a walkover after Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia pulled out with an ankle injury. Local favorite Michaella Krajicek, who made her first appearance in Den Bosch in 2003 as a 14-year-old, lost to Thai qualifier Tamarine Tanasugarn 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. In the men's event, top seed David Ferrer of Spain defeated twice champion Mario Ancic 6-4, 7-6, the last man to beat world number one Roger Federer on grass – at Wimbledon in 2002. Ferrer will face unseeded Argentine teenager Juan Martin Del Porto, who served 13 aces in beating two-time runner-up Arnaud Clement of France 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. The other semifinals features seventh-seeded Guillermo Canas of Argentina against unseeded Marc Gicquel of France. Canas beat Serbian qualifier Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-2, and Gicquel topped Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-3, 6-4 for his first semifinals since October. India's Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, playing together on the tour for the first time in four years, reached the semifinals of the ATP grasscourt event Wednesday. The duo, who have agreed to bury their widely-publicized differences in an effort to clinch Olympic gold in Beijing, saw off Spain's David Ferrer and Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-1 in just 49 minutes. Bartoli has easy ride In England, Marion Bartoli, on the mend after a wrist injury, reached the semifinals of the Eastbourne International on Thursday by making short work of Russian qualifier Alisa Kleybanova. Second seed Bartoli, the Wimbledon runner-up last year, will play fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in Friday's semi-finals after her 6-3, 6-3 win. Australian Samantha Stosur continued her comeback trail from serious illness by becoming the first woman into the last four of the grasscourt event, where she will face eighth seed Nadia Petrova of Russia. Stosur overcame the windy conditions at Devonshire Park to beat Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki 7-6, 6-4. Radwanska, who had earlier completed a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over France's Virginie Razzano in a second-round match, had to fight hard to beat Argentine Gisela Dulko 7-5, 7-5 as the shadows lengthened on the Center Court.
