Jan Vacek or Peter Luczak could have told Justin Gimelstob what he discovered on Centre Court last night.

The way his opponent is playing these days - he's just "in-Vince-ible"!

Once again showing steely resolve and a penchant for producing a piece of magical play when his back is to the wall, American Vincent Spadea swept into the semi-finals of the XL Capital Bermuda Open on the crest of a 6-3, 6-4 victory over his compatriot.

In a contest featuring two of the tournament's most energetic and athletic competitors, it was the ice-cool Spadea whose nerves and strokes stood up to the test at crucial junctures. Even Gimelstob made this candid acknowledgement in defeat.

"He served well when he was down. I had a lot of opportunities but he came up with really good serves or really good shots. He played well and he hit some key winners.

"I could have served a little better and I made some key errors," said the 25-year-old.

The 90-minute thriller opened evenly with both players feeling each other out with a string of ferocious baseline rallies and the occasional drop shot to spice up their showdown. However, by game four of the first set, Spadea - his no-nonsense style quickly coming to the fore - won the better of Gimelstob's service to snatch a valuable 3-1 lead.

Try valiantly as he did, the agile Gimelstob could not break back as Spadea gave up just six points in his next three service games. The most notable moment was the seventh game when Spadea swatted a forehand into the net and then double-faulted to be 15-40 down.

It was his opponent's only chance to get back on even keel but a Gimelstob shot into the net and then a backhand return over the baseline brought it to deuce before Spadea finally took the game, needing one more for the set. This he secured on his next serve.

The second set could not have begun worse for Gimelstob as Spadea tightened the screws en route to his third win on Coral Beach Club's clay surface.

Three unforced errors by Gimelstob presented Spadea with an "advantage" and the early delight of going a break up. He did not pass up the opportunity and, from there, it was no looking back, though Gimelstob held serve for the remainder of the set.

Three aces - two successively - in the fourth game underlined the winner's intentions and it was two more of those rip-roaring, untouchable deliveries that allowed Spadea to escape from the only other break-point Gimelstob enjoyed and - finally - to claim match point.

"I played a solid match from the first to the last point. The close points determine the match and I got the breaks (break points) that I needed - one in each set - and I didn't lose serve. It was really pleasing for me," said the 27-year-old victor afterwards.

Casting his thoughts to what would be required to lift the championship come tomorrow evening, he noted that matches can get trickier and more demanding as one gets closer to a final.

"I have two more steps but those can be the most difficult. I'm just going to take tomorrow seriously and play like I did today and hopefully I'll get some lucky breaks again," he said.

In this evening's semifinal, Spadea will do battle with Israel's Noam Okun. Whoever wins will also have the statistical edge over the other.

"I've played him twice - beat him once, lost once. He's a solid player and he has had three good wins here so it's going to be tough," said Spadea.