Stanislas Wawrinka beat Guillermo Canas of Argentina 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) on Friday and will face in semis today Romania's Victor Hanescu, who defeated French qualifier Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-6 (3).

Wawrinka, who has also lost four times in the first round here, came back from a break down in the final set, re-breaking eighth-seeded Argentine Canas for 5-5 and eventually forcing a tiebreaker.

The top seed showed his power at the right moment with two more aces on his way to clinching the two-and-a-half-hour victory.


Wawrinka and Russian Igor Andreev, the number seven, remain the last two seeds in contention, after exits including number two defending champion Paul-Henri Mathieu of France.

In the other bracket, 88th-ranked Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain upset third-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Garcia-Lopez will meet No. 7 seed Igor Andreev of Russia, a 7-6 (4), 6-3 winner over Marin Cilic of Croatia.

Hanescu finally has some relief half a year after chronic back problems began to clear. He now feels ready to take on the world after reaching his first semi-final of the season.

"I had back problems and was out for eight or nine months in 2006," said the one-time number 35 who reached a Roland Garros quarter-final three years ago against Roger Federer.

"But I've felt good for six months now," said the current number 80.


(source Canadian Press, photo/AP Photo/Keystone/Peter Schneider)

Wawrinka, Garcia Lopez, Igor Andreerv and Victor Hanescu in Gstaad semis