Pavel Surges Into Semis

Andrei Pavel continued his return to form at the BNP Paribas Masters on Friday. Pavel, who endured a lengthy injury lay-off earlier in the year, took out No. 5 seed Rainer Schuettler 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to his second semifinal of 2003. The Romanian next faces Jiri Novak, who was a comprehensive 6-2, 6-1 winner over Hicham Arazi. Novak can claim the alternate spot for the Tennis Masters Cup if he reaches the final.