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Safin beats Henman to reach Masters Cup semi against Federer
Texas, Nov 19 (AFP) - Marat Safin advanced to an ATP Masters Cup semi-final showdown against world number one Roger Federer by defeating Britain's Tim Henman 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) here Friday.

The fourth-ranked Russian took advantage of Henman's 14 unforced errors in the first set and his errant shots on the final four points of the match for the 100-minute victory.

Australia's third-ranked Lleyton Hewitt captured Saturday's other vacant semi-final berth by beating Argentina's Gaston Gaudio 6-2, 6-1. The 2001 and 2002 Masters Cup winner booked a date with second-ranked American Andy Roddick.

"I've really stepped it up this week," Hewitt said. "I'm motivated at the moment. I play with a lot of emotion our there." This marks the first time since 1990 that the four highest-ranked players reached the semi-finals of the season-ending event.
Safin has lost five of six career meetings with Federer, including this year's Australian Open final.

But Safin has improved in recent months under the guidance of former Federer coach Peter Lundgren, who mentored the Swiss 23-year-old to his breakthrough Slam crown at Wimbledon in 2003.
Safin improved to 24-4 since a first-round US Open exit, including titles at Beijing, Madrid and Paris.

"He has got a lot of confidence from the indoor season," Federer said. "You can see it now in his style of game. He's serving well. He's returning well. He's seeing the ball well from the baseline." Safin broke Henman with a forehand winner to end a nine-minute opening game and Henman's first double fault gave Safin another break for a 5-2 edge on his way to capturing the first set in 46 minutes.

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