Sampras spanking for Spadea

“I’m feeling confident,” he added.

The 44th-ranked Spadea received a tennis lesson from the second-ranked Sampras in the 49-minute match.

Sampras, reaching his first semi-final of the year at an ATP Tour Super 9 level event, can reclaim the top spot in the world rankings if he wins this title for the third time.

The reigning Wimbledon champion takes on unseeded Magnus Larsson of Sweden in the semi-finals. Larsson conquered fellow Swede Thomas Johansson 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).

Fifth-seeded Patrick Rafter of Australia faces seventh-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia in the other semi-final.

Rafter, the US Open defending champion, cleared a path into the semi-finals with a 6-4, 7-6(10-8) victory over third-seeded Petr Korda of the Czech Republic, the Australian Open champion. Kafelnikov posted a routine 6-4, 6-4 win over unseeded Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic.

With 12 aces and a high first-serve percentage of 67, Sampras never offered Spadea a chance to break his serve.

Spadea will move into a career-high top-40 ranking on Monday. He beat top-ranked Marcelo Rios, ninth-ranked Andre Agassi and eighth-ranked Richard Krajicek en route to the quarter-finals.

Hingis silences Serena

MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIFORNIA: World number one and top seed Martina Hingis shut down Serena Williams and shut up her father, Richard, at the Acura Classic women’s tennis tournament yesterday.

Hingis rolled past the 16-year-old Williams 6-4, 6-1 for a spot in semi-finals of the $ 450,000 event.

Hingis was highly-motivated to take out the hard-hitting younger sister of WTA Tour star Venus, especially after brash public comments by Richard Williams on a local television station.

Hingis waspsyched up yesterday and it showed on court.

“I would like to see Serena play Hingis,” father Williams had said in the television interview. “I think Serena would kick her… Going and coming.”Hingis heard the trash-talking while waiting to play her doubles match on Tuesday night.

“Everybody laughed when he said it and I went like, `ha, ha, ha,”’ said Hingis, before adding: “Once someone says that about a player, he should also sometimes watch his mouth or think about what he says. It doesn’t have to happen. But I think they’re going to be a little quiet now for a while.”Hingis doesn’t blame Serena, though. “I don’t think it’s Serena’s fault. All this talk about her, she’s a nice girl because I know her from the other tournaments. Actually, when she’s around, I like her. But the people around her sometimes, talk too much.”

The 17-year-old Swiss will next face third-seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain. The three-time French Open champion stopped lucky loser Elena Tatarkova 6-3,6-3.

Second-ranked and second-seeded Lindsay Davenport beat eighth-seeded doubles partner Natasha Zvereva 6-2, 6-3 and booked a place in the final four against fourth-seeded Monica Seles, who ousted fifth seed Nathalie Tauziat 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday night.