Nikolay Davydenko joined Roger Federer in the last four of the year-ending Masters Cup yesterday after demoralising Gaston Gaudio.
Davydenko triumphed 6-3 6-4 for his second straight victory, the Russian's accuracy prompting a frustrated Gaudio to break two rackets, much to the amusement of the Shanghai crowd.
Davydenko's spot in the semi-finals was sealed when Chile's Fernando Gonzalez beat Argentine Mariano Puerta 6-3 4-6 6-0.
The result also ended Puerta's interest in the troubled $4.45 million tournament.
Davydenko, who beat Andre Agassi 6-4 6-2 on Monday, played down his chances of halting Federer's march to a third straight title on a sticky indoor surface at Shanghai's Qi Zhong stadium.
"It's a big chance for me but this surface is very difficult," Davydenko, who is making his Masters Cup debut, told reporters.
"If you don't concentrate you can get injured."
Gaudio slipped to 1-1 following his win over compatriot Puerta. Tormented by Davydenko's unerring groundstrokes, he spent much of the match stalking the baseline screaming at himself.
A racket-smashing tantrum in the first set brought cheers from the Chinese fans and Gaudio's temper barely improved.
Last year's French Open winner broke another racket after slumping to 5-1 in the second set.
Puerta was also close to exploding in his match and audibly swore at the umpire in Spanish after disagreeing with a line call that left him 2-0 down in the third set. Replays showed Gonzalez's ball to be good but the decision clearly rattled Puerta who suffered a complete meltdown.
The first Chilean to appear at the season-ending championships since Marcelo Rios in 1998, Gonzalez now faces a showdown with Gaudio for a place in the last four.
Anger at pullouts justified - Federer
Roger Federer believes that criticism from tournament organisers of a spate of pullouts at the year-ending Masters Cup was fully justified.
"I think criticism is allowed at this point," said Federer who made it two wins out of two on Tuesday.
"They signed a three-year deal. I understand the big disappointment from the government, from the tournament, from the fans."
Agassi pulled out on Monday citing an ankle injury after hobbling to a 6-4 6-2 defeat by Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in his first match.
The American's withdrawal came after Rafael Nadal pulled out through injury. Andy Roddick, Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt were all Shanghai no-shows.
Organisers were scornful of Agassi's decision to withdraw even though the eight-times grand slam winner arrived in China with an ankle injury.
But Federer sought to heal any potential rift by praising Agassi for trying to play on his sore ankle.
"I don't know how bad it really was but I think it's still great that he shows up and tried," said Federer. "Maybe the other guys could have tried too."