Second seed Andre Agassi battled back after a slow start to defeat Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters. Agassi was taken to a lengthy tie-break in the first set but he found his form to win in two hours 27 minutes.
"In the first set, I was never able to loosen up on my shots. I played better as the match went on," he said.
The American will meet third seed Marat Safin in the last four after his 6-4 6-4 win over Peru's Luis Horna.
Ivan Ljubicic kept up his fine run of form at the event with victory over Joachim Johansson.
The Croatian, who beat top seed Tim Henman in the previous round, won the battle of the big servers 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (1-7) 7-6 (7-3).
Ljubicic next faces David Nalbandian, who beat Taylor Dent 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.
MMIX
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