Lacko powers through to semis

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ZAGREB, Croatia -- Lukas Lacko of Slovakia beat seventh-seeded Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semifinals of the Zagreb Indoors on Friday.

Lacko, who earlier ousted second-seeded Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia, will now face Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, who advanced after defeating defending champion Ivan Dodig of Croatia 6-4, 7-5.

"I am very much pleased with the way things work here," Lacko said. "I am looking forward to the semifinals."

Sixth-seeded Baghdatis ousted the fourth-seeded Dodig with little trouble, leaving host country Croatia without representatives in the semifinals or finals for the first time since 2006.

Germany's Michael Berrer also advanced after defeating Austria's Jurgen Melzer 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Berrer -- a finalist in 2010 and 2011 -- rallied after failing to convert five break points in the first set.

"I just feel very comfortable here," Berrer said. "I had lot of respect for Melzer ... I knew it would be difficult and that I had to be on the top of my game to beat him."

Berrer will play against third-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, who defeated another, eighth-seeded Croat Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (10), 3-6, 7-6 (6).

"This one was really tough, I was lucky this time," Youzhny said. He converted the fourth match point as Karlovic netted a volley.

"When you lose the match, especially like this one, you don't feel well," Karlovic said. "But I played good game. I missed two important volleys ... and I lost the match because of these points."