Robin Soderling blasts his way past Andy Roddick

Standing between the Swede and a place in the final is Frenchman Michael Llodra, who made light work of 10th-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, winning 7-5, 6-1.

Soderling got off to a strong start on the fast Bercy centre court, losing just one point on his first serve in the first 10 games. "Against Andy, it's always just a matter of taking the chances you get," the Swede said. "And then today I think I did really well. I served pretty well. I could have put some more first serves in but my second serve was good and overall it was a good match."

Roddick struggled to return the Soderling's big serve and failed to convert the only two break chances he had. Soderling broke Roddick for a 6-5 lead when the American buried a backhand into the net and threw his racket in anger.

Roddick then won a 39-shot rally that gave him a break point in the next game but Soderling saved it with a crosscourt forehand winner and celebrated with a fist pump. The two-time French Open runner-up broke again in the first game of the second set and served out the match at love with an ace. Llodra, the only unseeded player remaining, had never advanced beyond the second round at Bercy before. But after upsetting defending champion Novak Djokovic in the previous round, he continued to make the most of the fast surface, which has been made quicker this year and perfectly suits his serve and volley style.

In the other half of the draw, the late games were between Roger Federer and Jurgen Melzer, with Andy Murray due to face Gael Monfils.