BASEL, Switzerland -- Finland's Jarkko Nieminen upset second seed Fernando Gonzalez 6-3 7-5 on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
Nieminen dispatched second seed Gonzalez in straight sets in Basel.
Nieminen scored his first win against Gonzalez in five attempts. He wasted two match points while leading 5-4. Nieminen fought off three break points before gaining his third match point and converting it with a backhand down the line.
Gonzalez, who won the Basel tournament in 2005, hurt his chances of qualifying for the season-ending Masters Cup.
He is one of 20 players competing for the last three spots at the Masters Cup next month. The event features the top eight players.
The Chilean is seventh in the race, with the top five already qualified -- Roger Federer, who is top seed in his home tournament in Basel, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko and Andy Roddick, who is struggling with injury at present and withdrew from the Paris Masters on Friday.
Federer, looking to hit back after his shock defeat to David Nalbandian in the final of the Madrid Masters on Sunday, later beat Germany's Nicolas Kiefer 6-3 6-2 to reach the semifinals.
There were also quarterfinal victories for Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who beat Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-2 7-6, and giant Croat Ivo Karlovic, who saw off Tomas Berdych after three tiebreak sets. E-mail to a friend 
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