Saturday, May 6 2006 16:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Estoril: Li Na and compatriot Zheng Jie stayed on course for an all-Chinese final after powering to straight-set wins Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Estoril Open.

In the men's event, top seed and Masters Cup champion David Nalbandian took a step closer a second Estoril Open title as he crushed the last home hope with a 6-1, 6-2 quarter-final win over Frederico Gil.

Sixth seeded woman Zheng overcame Czech Zuzana Ondraskova 6-1, 6-3 in a match littered with five breaks of serve in the last seven games.

Li surged into the final four for a second straight year as she upset Argentine second seed Gisela Dulko 6-3, 6-1.

The 24-year-old from Wuhan, ranked 70 in the world, will now face former champion Emilie Loit, the seventh-seeded Frenchwoman who defeated Spain's third seed Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

Top seed Flavia Pennetta overcame Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 to keep her solid run on clay alive and will face Zheng, ranked 49th.

The Italian has lost three finals this season, including two on clay at Bogota and Acapulco, events she won in 2005.

Li spent just 68 minutes in claiming victory over Dulko, the world number 33 who lost in the semis here a year ago.

"I'm so excited to be in the semis again," said Li, who has played in only three career clay tournaments twice in Estoril.

"I was thinking last night about how I would play this match. I had a lot of scenarios figured out. But I over-thought everything, it was easier than I expected," he said.

Portugal's last remaining candle of hope was quickly blown out as local hero Gil, ranked 247, was unable to follow up on his second-round defeat of fifth seed Dimitry Tursunov as he ran into top seed Nalbandian.

The Portuguese was the second unknown opponent in a row here for the Argentine, competing in only his second event on clay this season after reaching the Monte Carlo third round last month.

"It was a full stadium today, I liked that," said Nalbandian, ranked fourth in the world and the 2002 champion. "I felt this match was my best so far.

"I had to lift my level in the second set to make sure I went through. You never go in expecting any match to be easy," he said.

In Saturday's semi-final, Nalbandian faces Spain's Albert Portas, who ended the improbable run of American Justin Gimelstob with a 6-4, 6-3 win.

Portas, whose lone claim to fame was the 2001 Hamburg Masters title, is playing in his first semi-final since Palermo that same year, when he lost to compatriot Felix Mantilla.

"He's a Spanish guy and he knows how to play on this stuff, I'm expecting a tough match," said Nalbandian.

1998 French Open champion and winner here in 2000 Carlos Moya contionued his return to form with a defeat of Spanish compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

Moya has recovered his confidence after going out in the Barcelona first round last month. "It was a tough match," he said after ousting 118th-ranked Garcia-Lopez.

"It was a close score because he's a good player. I'm feeling better on the clay, my game is coming together at the right time," he said.

Second seeded and world No. 6 Russian Nikolay Davydenko, who triumphed at the event in 2003, booked a semi-final date with Moya after beating Luxembourg's Gilles Muller 6-4, 6-4.