Guillermo Canas disposed of second seed Marat Safin in the quarter-finals of the Toronto Masters with a 7-5 6-3 victory.

With Lleyton Hewitt and Tim Henman already out of the tournament, Safin missed his chance to stake a claim to the position of Champions Race leader.

The first set was seemingly heading towards a tie-break with Safin serving at 5-6, but Canas put in a clever drop shot to take a break and the set.

In searing temperatures, Safin began to lose control of his game and temper, arguing calls and slamming his racket into the court when Canas recorded an early break in the second set.

That gave the Argentine a 3-1 lead and he never looked back.

"It's so pathetic," said a disappointed Safin. "I'm laughing at myself for how badly I played."

Third seed Tommy Haas booked his place in the semis by defeating Fabrice Santoro of France to reach the final four for the second successive year.

Haas, who arrived in Toronto without a win since the French Open, will now face Canas for a place in the final.

Andy Roddick easily disposed of David Nalbandian of Argentina in 90 minutes on his first appearance on centre court at the tournament.

"I'm very pleased," said Roddick, who has yet to drop a set and has only once been broken on his serve.

"My game was very tight tonight. If he was going to win a point he was going to have to play some good tennis."

Roddick will face 14th seed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic in the semis after he saw off Sebastien Grosjean of France in straight sets.

Friday's results: