Little-known Pless beats local hero Escude in Lyon Grand Prix

Reuters, Lyon, France

Little-known Kristian Pless of Denmark reached the semifinals of the Lyon Grand Prix on Friday by humbling local hero Nicolas Escude 6-3, 6-1.

Pless, 92nd in the ATP rankings, took just 48 minutes to crush Escude and reiterated he can't be taken lightly anymore after beating defending champion Ivan Ljubicic in the previous round.

For Escude, victor over second seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov on Thursday, the defeat was a setback as the Frenchman is chasing a place in the French squad for next month's Davis Cup final. France are defending their trophy against Russia.

"It's like a cold shower," Escude said. "Winning only four games against a player who is not a hardcourt specialist is not that good.

"I was tired. I was slow and I could hardly run. I'm not surprised by his performance as you don't become junior world champion by luck.

"It's a shame as my part of the draw was open. After my defeat to Schalken in Moscow last week, I have the feeling I'm missing opportunities."

Escude will fly to Spain on Friday night to play in Madrid's Masters Series tournament.

In Vienna, Austria, Romania's Andrei Pavel advanced to the semi-finals of the indoor CA Trophy after beating Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 7-6 on Friday.

In the other quarterfinals fourth seed Carlos Moya plays American James Blake, fifth seed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic faces local favorite Jurgen Melzer and sixth seed Roger Federer meets Czech Bohdan Ulihrach.

Spain's Moya, who has already notched up four titles this year, could leapfrog Britain's Tim Henman into fifth place in the ATP Tour champions race if he wins the final on Sunday.

Switzerland's Federer is aiming for his third title of the year to improve his chances of qualifying for the lucrative season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai next month.

In Filderstadt, Germany, Daniela Hantuchova ended the run of American qualifier Alexandra Stevenson with a crushing 6-1, 6-2 victory in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Friday.

Stevenson, who stunned top seed Jennifer Capriati in the previous round, hit 11 double-faults, with four of those coming in just one game, and she never found her rhythm against a steady opponent.

Stevenson's second double-fault allowed the eighth seed Slovak to break for 2-0, and some good returns from Hantuchova earned another break for 4-0.

Stevenson eventually held with an ace in the sixth game, and took advantage of two double-faults from Hantuchova to break for a 2-0 lead in the second set. But that was the only weak game from Hantuchova, who then took the next six games for an easy victory.

Swiss qualifier Myriam Casanova was also unable to follow up her second round upset of fourth seed Justine Henin when she was beaten 6-2, 6-3 by Elena Dementieva.

The Russian sped to a 4-0 lead in the opening set as she opened up some winning angles in the hard-hitting baseline rallies.

Although Casanova settled and offered stronger resistance during the remainder of the match, it was Dementieva who held on for victory in a match littered with errors.