Mason, August 20:

Marat Safin barely moved while the match-ending ace flew by, then tossed his racket onto the court in exasperation. The US Open is at hand, and the Australian Open champ is in a bad way. Wild card entry Robby Ginepri needed only 56 minutes to knock Safin out of the $2.45 million Cincinnati Masters. Ginepri advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over the hobbled Russian. Three other top-seeded players advanced to the semi. No 1 Roger Federer beat Jose Acasuso 6-4, 6-3, setting up a match against Ginepri. Fifth-seeded Andy Roddick overcame a sluggish start and beat Mikhail Youzhny 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. He’ll play third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, who beat seventh-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-3.

Rogers Cup

TORONTO: Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo of France made the semi-finals of the $1.3 million Rogers Cup when Russian Nadia Petrova withdrew due to an injured right chest muscle in their rain-delayed quarter-final match on Friday night. The defending champion Mauresmo and Petrova were tied 4-4 in the first set when they headed to the locker-room as a driving rain began to pelt the court. In semi-finals, Mauresmo will play No 4 Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium, who struggled in a 7-5, 7-6 win over Czech teen Nicole Vaidisova.

Henin-Hardenne appeared to be headed for an easy victory when she took a 4-0 lead in the first set. But Vaidisova proved to be a stiff challenge for the veteran, who made several uncharacteristic errors and wild mishits and struggled with her serve. Russian Anastasia Myskina beat Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-4, 7-5 despite a splint on her sprained left ankle and advanced to the semis. No 9 Myskina will meet Kim Clijsters, the seventh-seeded Belgian, who routed Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-0, 6-1.