Sampras was leading 4-1 and preparing to serve when Jan-Michael Gambill, a 21-year-old rapidly improving fellow American who is no. 50 in the world, retired with a foot injury, giving Sampras a smooth passage into the semifinals of the star-studded Eurocard Open.

Gambill's withdrawal came just minutes after Marcelo Rios, Sampras' closest challenger at No. two, retired before his quarterfinal against Yevgeny Kafelnikov because of a thigh injury.

In the semifinals, Kafelnikov will play 12th-seeded Jonas Bjorkman, who ousted no. 13 Greg Rusedski 6-3, 6-2.

In the other semifinals, Sampras will battle Richard Krajicek, who ended a nine-match, six-year losing streak against Goran Ivanisevic.

The 11th-ranked Dutchman slammed 11 aces and had only one double-fault to overcome Ivanisevic 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5).

With Rios forced to drop out of his second tournament in asmany weeks and No. three Patrick Rafter losing in the third round Thursday, Sampras' prospects to protect the top ranking have been bolstered.

By reaching the quarterfinals of this $ 2.45 million tournament, Sampras had made sure of extending his reign at least through next week's Paris indoor tournament, which he won last year.

Rios, who leads the tour with seven titles this year, retired in the semifinal In Lyon with a hamstring injury in his left leg. This time, he pulled a muscle in his right thigh while warming up by playing soccer with a tennis ball.

Pierce, Farina play final

LUXEMBOURG: France's Mary Pierce stayed on course for her second tennis tournament win in as many weeks, reaching the final of the $ 164,250 Luxembourg Open with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Elena Likhovtseva of Russia.

In today's final, Pierce will face Silvia Farina of Italy, who prevented an all-French matchup by ousting top seed Nathalie Tauziat 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

Pierce, 11th in the WTA rankings, already won the KremlinCup in Moscow last week.

Pierce was rarely troubled by the Russian, ranked 27th, and swept into the final with a straight-set win.

Farina, no. 24 in the wta rankings, claimed her third seed this week by tenaciously hanging on when Tauziat tried to stage a comeback. After losing the second set, the Italian remained poised before edging Tauziat in the tense final games.

Alexandra beaten

QUEBEC: France's Nathalie Dechy ended the surprising run of American Alexandra Stevenson at the Bell Challenge, beating the 17-year-old tennis amateur 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) to reach her first ever semifinal.

Seventh-seeded Tara Snyder of the US beat Romanian Catalina Cristea 6-4, 6-4 in another quarterfinal. Since the French Open, Snyder had failed to advance past the second round in eight tournaments.