Safin earns semifinal berth in Paris

PARIS, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Marat Safin surprised Lleyton Hewitt Friday to earn a semifinal berth at the BNP Paribas Masters.

Safin won his eighth straight ATP Masters Series match, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). That set up a semifinal meeting with Guillermo Canas.

Canas, who has played in four title matches this year, defeated Feliciano Lopez, 6-3, 6-3.

The other two quarterfinal matches saw Radek Stepanek down Mikhail Youzhny, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3; and Max Mirnyi defeat Robin Soderling, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).