Grosjean to meet Agassi conqueror Kucera

Sebastien Grosjean found his rhythm after a slow start to beat Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Friday and reach the last four of the St Petersburg Open for the first time.

After losing the first set of the quarter-final, the third seeded Frenchman broke Hrbaty in the sixth game of the second to level the match before running away with the third.

Grosjean reeled off four straight games in the middle of the final set to finish off his unseeded opponent in just under two hours and reach his second consecutive ATP semi-final after last week's Madrid Masters.

"I wasn't serving very well in the first set and he pushed me around on my second serve," said Grosjean. "But I started serving better at the start of the second set and it became much easier for me to play him."

He will now face another unseeded Slovakian, Karol Kucera, in Saturday's semi-final. Kucera, who toppled American Andre Agassi in the previous round, continued his run by eliminating seventh-seeded Argentine Gaston Gaudio 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Friday.

"It was very tough for me to come back and play today," said the soft-spoken Slovak. "Now I know just how well I played yesterday. Today it was very difficult for me to play with the same intensity as I did against Agassi."

HIGHEST SEED

Grosjean is now the highest seed left in the $1 million tournament after the top two seeds, Agassi and Marat Safin, were both knocked out on Thursday.

But he refused to discuss his chances of winning his first ATP title of the year.

"There are still a lot of good players left in this tournament, so I just have to focus on my game," said the seventh-ranked Frenchman.

Unseeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny also reached his first semi-final in Russia's second city after dispatching Andrei Pavel of Romania 6-1, 6-3 in a just over an hour.

Youzhny is now left to carry the Russian flag alone after both of his high-profile compatriots, Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who was seeded fifth here, exited in the second round.

"I don't feel any extra pressure of being the last Russian left in the draw," said the 20-year-old Muscovite.

"I think it actually should work to my advantage because the fans now will support me more than ever before. It's great to feel the crowd on your side."

He will take on Vladimir Voltchkov in the second semi-final after the Belarussian wild card prevailed over experienced German Nicolas Kiefer 7-5, 7-5 in the last match of the day.