Milan Indoor

Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov strolled past Swedish qualifier Jonas Bjorkman 6-3 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the Milan Open.

The fifth seed, who has recovered from calf surgery, won on his second match point to hand Bjorkman his 10th defeat in as many matches against Kafelnikov.

"I was consistent on key points but I felt a little bit nervous," said Kafelnikov, the Milan champion in 1995.

I'll have to maintain my focus Yevgeny Kafelnikov

Kafelnikov now faces eighth seed Jarkko Nieminen, who beat former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek.

Nieminen took a first-set tiebreak 9-7 and wrapped up the second set 7-5.

The other semi-final will be between Ivan Ljubicic, who beat Julien Varlet 6-4 6-1, and Martin Verkerk, who beat defending champion Davide Sanguinetti 7-5 6-3.