Wawrinka sets up semifinal date with Paire

Chennai: Seeking a hat-trick of title triumph, Stanislas Wawrinka cruised into the singles semifinals of Aircel Chennai Open tennis with a straight sets 6-4, 6-4 victory over Garcia Lopez of Spain here on Friday.
In the day's other quarterfinal, third seeded Benoit Paire also scored a straight sets win, beating Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano 6-4 7-5 after spending 80 minutes on the court.
World number 4 Wawrinka, from Switzerland, will take on Paire in the last-four clash on Saturday.
Wawrinka needed 77 minutes to see off the challenge of Spaniard Lopez, seeded fifth in the ATP Tour event.
Leaving aside the 8th game in which Wawrinka made three unforced errors, the Swiss was in total control, winning eight straight points from 4-4 to close the set 6-4 in 53 minutes.
Wawrinka came up with superb returns and his defensive forehands were perfectly executed, the highlight being the fourth game when he followed up a big serve with a perfect volley before earning a break point in the fifth.
Keeping up the momentum, Wawrinka broke Lopez in the seventh game before sealing the match in his favour.