Safin tumbles out in Tashkent

Paradorn Srichaphan is in a rich vein of form

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Top seed and defending champion Marat Safin was dumped out of the President's Cup in Tashkent by Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan.

Safin lost 6-3 7-6 in the quarter-final, while second seed Tommy Haas pulled out with an elbow injury during his match with Vladimir Voltchkov.

Fifth seed Srichaphan broke Safin in the second game to take the opening set and went on to clinch the second-set tiebreak at the first opportunity.

I'm afraid the injury could be a serious one

Tommy Haas

"I just tried to hold my serve and play solid from the baseline," said Scrichaphan, who lost to Safin in Indian Wells.

"I just wanted to correct some of the mistakes that cost me the win then."

Haas, ranked number two in the world, was trailing Belarussian qualifier Voltchkov 6-2 2-1 before calling it a day.

"It just didn't make any sense for me to keep on playing because I felt the pain in my elbow after every shot," said the German.

"It started in yesterday's match and then today I felt it right from the start. There was nothing I could do about it.

Haas hopes to be fit to play Davis Cup

"I had the same problem last month in Indianapolis and I also was forced to pull out from a semi-final on Long Island.

"I'm afraid the injury could be a serious one, so I will see my doctor in Germany as soon as possible.

"But hopefully I will be able to play the Davis Cup tie later this month and will also play all the other tournaments left on my schedule."

In Friday's semi-finals, Voltchkov will meet eighth seed Italian Davide Sanguinetti, who beat Kristian Pless of Denmark 4-6 7-6 6-2.

Srichaphan will face third seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who defeated Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-2.