Wawrinka Into St. Petersburg Semi-Finals

Top seed Stan Wawrinka remained perfect against Viktor Troicki, winning 7-5, 6-2 against the Serbian in the quarter-finals of the St. Petersburg Open on Friday. Wawrinka broke on the final point of the opening set, then swept the last four games of the match to win in 64 minutes.

The No. 3 player in the Emirates ATP Race To London, who is already assured of a berth at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, played with confidence. He landed 79 per cent of first serves and saved both break points faced to improve to 6-0 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Troicki.

Wawrinka will play Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the final. The Swiss has won his past 11 finals, most recently against Novak Djokovic at the US Open.

Bautista Agut overcame a slow start to advance 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 against Joao Sousa. The No. 4 seed dropped serve twice in losing the opening set, but held easily the rest of the way to down the Portuguese in one hour and 40 minutes. All three previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings between the two baseliners have gone the distance. Bautista Agut has now won the past two matches.

Begemann/Paes Into Doubles Final

Andre Begemann and Leander Paes moved into the doubles final after downing Russian wild cards Mikhail Elgin and Alexander Kudryavtsev 6-3, 7-6(5). They will face top seeds Dominic Inglot and Henri Kontinen or Konstantin Kravchuk and Andrey Kuznetsov.