Former world number ones Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt set up a mouth-watering Las Vegas Open semi-final after recording confident victories over Spanish opponents on Friday.

Russian third seed Safin eased to a 6-1, 6-4 win over fifth seed Fernando Verdasco and second seed Hewitt made short work of Feliciano Lopez, easing through 6-3, 6-2.

The second semi-final will be between Russian Evgeny Korolev and Austrian fourth seed Juergen Melzer.

Having needed a third-set tiebreak to beat his compatriot Igor Kunitsyn in the previous round, Safin was on much better form as he overpowered Spain's Verdasco.

The world number 24 won the first five games and one break in the opening game of the second set proved enough to send him into his first semi-final of the year.

"The most important thing was to make a good start and put the pressure on him," Safin told reporters.

"I was able to do that and then it was a bit easier."

Hewitt, runner-up last year, banged down 10 aces as he crushed Lopez in just 58 minutes.

The Australian, who said he was still carrying the hamstring injury that forced him to miss last week's event in Rotterdam, took each of his four break points to reach the semi-finals.

The unseeded Korolev made the most of his reinstatement as he beat American Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-4 to reach his first ever ATP Tour semi-final.

The 19-year-old, a cousin of former Russian women's number one Anna Kournikova, saved two break points in the 10th game to serve out for the first set.

After squandering a 2-0 lead in the second, he broke again in the ninth game and held his nerve to reach the last four, where he will play Melzer who ousted unseeded Czech Jan Hernych 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Korolev was reinstated in the tournament after the ATP reversed its earlier U-turn, which had given American top seed James Blake a place in the last eight.

"I think I had to win today," he joked. "Otherwise maybe they would have thought they had made the wrong decision."

Korolev could meet Safin in Sunday's final.

"I would love that," he said. "Marat is a great guy and a great player."