SANTIAGO, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian tennis player Luis Horna,rated 66th by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), on Friday defeated Russia's Igor Andreev, rated 160th, reaching the semi-finals of the Vina del Mar Championship.

Friday's loss ended a run of positive performances for the Russian outsider who was infuriated by the loss and smashed up his racket.

Andreev had begun well with a big win over Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, a Spaniard, rated 53rd, who had reached the 2006 semi-finals, but Andreeve did not show such form in his second match of the championship, against Argentina's Diego Hartfield, rated 109th.

Horna's performance on Friday was inspired, however, playing a near-perfect game with almost no unforced errors and showed himself able to withstand the Russian's attacks. Exasperated, Andreev began making mistakes, especially in his weakest stroke, the right.

The South American broke Andreev's service in the eighth game of the first set, in which he went 5-3 ahead, a crucial game leading to a 6-3 victory. In the third game of the second set the Horna broke Andreev's service again, and scored another 6-3 set victory.

Horna became the first player to qualify for the semi-finals and will play the winner of the match between Martin Vasalo Arguello, rated 73 by the ATP, and Carlos Berlocq, rated 127.

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