Soderling moves into Stockholm semifinals

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Robin Soderling advanced to the Stockholm Open tennis tournament semifinals by winning in straight sets over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

The native Swede, the only seeded player remaining, thrilled a partisan crowd with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 victory against his Spanish foe.

The 2008 Stockholm runner-up secured the match with three key service breaks, and at No. 10, entered the Top 10 for the first time in the latest world rankings this week.

Elsewhere, in three battles between non-seeds, Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci downed 6-foot-6 Swede Joachim Johansson 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus beat France's Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-4; and Belgian Olivier Rochus downed Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.

Saturday's semifinal matches are Soderling-Baghdatis and Bellucci-Rochus.