Federer, Nadal in semis

Roger Federer joined Nadal in the last four and warmed the shivering fans with a stirring fightback from a set down to oust Ernests Gulbis 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. It was sweet revenge for the world number one after he lost to the shaggy-haired Latvian at last month's Rome Masters.

Briton Andy Murray, who turns 23 on Saturday, missed out on a last-four clash with Federer after he came out second best in a late night slugfest with the tenacious David Ferrer and lost 7-5, 6-3.

Seventh seed Jelena Jankovic failed to handle the blistering shots of outsider Aravane Rezai or the unseasonably cold temperature as she slumped out of in the quarterfinal stage.

Rezai won 7-5, 6-4 and goes on to meet another unseeded contender Lucie Safarova of Czech Republic in the last four. Safarova beat 16th-seed Nadia Petrova 6-1, 1-6, 6-4.

The only seeded player left, number four Venus Williams, crushed Samantha Stosur 6-3, 6-3 and will take on Israel's Shahar Peer in the other semifinal on Saturday. Peer beat Li Na of China 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Paes-Dlouhy in semis

Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy came back from a set behind to beat Nicolas Almagro and Marc Lopez and book a semifinal berth in the doubles event. The third set Indo-Cech pair overcame the challenge of the local pair 2-6, 7-5, 10-3 in the hard-fought quarterfinal.

They will now take on top seed pair of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic, who scored a 6-3, 6-4 win over sixth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach in their quarterfinal encounter.