Gustavo Kuerten battled to his fourth straight victory over Marat Safin to book his place in the semi-finals of the Lyon Grand Prix.

The three-time French Open champion edged out top seed Safin in a third-set tie-break to win 7-5 4-6 7-6.

Kuerten sealed victory when Safin, who showed signs of anger and frustration throughout the match, hit a double fault.

The Brazilian will now face Frenchman Arnaud Clement, who beat his Davis Cup team-mate Sebastien Grosjean 6-3 7-6.

Denmark's Kristian Pless enjoyed a surprise 6-3 6-1 win over local hero Nicolas Escude in their quarter-final.

Pless, who is 92nd in the ATP rankings, followed up his victory over defending champion Ivan Ljubicic by beating Escude in just 48 minutes.

It was a major setback for Escude as he is chasing a place in the French squad for next month's Davis Cup final against Russia.

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

"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 [Sjeng] Schalken in Moscow last week, I have the feeling I'm missing opportunities."

Pless will now face Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, who beat Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman 7-5 6-4.

Mathieu, who had reached the quarter finals when Thomas Johansson retired with back spasms, is chasing his second career title after his victory in Moscow last week.

Quarter-final results

A Clement (Fra) bt S Grosjean (Fra, 3) 6-3 7-6 G Kuerten (Bra) bt M Safin (Rus, 1) 7-5 4-6 7-6
P-H Mathieu (Fra) bt J Bjorkman (Swe) 7-5 6-4
K Pless (Den) bt N Escude (Fra) 6-3 6-1