KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko overcame Gael Monfils of France 6-3, 6-3 today to reach the semifinals of the Malaysian Open.

Davydenko rallied from a break down in the second set, showing no sign of the leg injury that forced him to retire during his fourth-round match in the U.S. Open. However, he said his groundstrokes were hampered by a hand problem.
“There is no injury ... just a sore wrist,” he said. “It can take three to four days to get better. I made mistakes in my forehand and played slower.”
Davydenko will now get a rematch against Robin Soderling, the Swede he was playing when forced to retire at Flushing Meadows.
The third-seeded Soderling defeated Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-2.
“Soderling plays long and fast and he has good serves,” Davydenko said. “It’s difficult to play against him from baseline. I need to have good concentration.”
Second-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain also advanced after overcoming Richard Gasquet of France 7-5, 6-4.
Verdasco, who is playing his first tournament since reaching the U.S. Open quarterfinals, faced strong resistance in the first set but capitalized on Gasquet’s errors to convert his only break point in the second.
“I played much better today and I’m happy to have come this far after not playing in about three weeks,” Verdasco said.
He will take on No. 4 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who ousted Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4.
“I had a lot of good chances but I got nervous at the end as Youzhny managed some good shots,” Gonzalez said.