Appearing well `armed' were Javier Frana, Brett Steven and Johan Van Herck, while Sargis Sargsian also had a little luck in his bag, which was why they found themselves standing as semi-finalists at the $125,000 XL Bermuda Open after yesterday's play.

Attacks were varied -- but equally effective -- with Frana possessing the most complete arsenal, unloading on Luis Adrian Morejon and ending the Ecuadorean's fairytale ride through the tournament.

Morejon, who had already upset number three seed Sandon Stolle and Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta to reach the quarter-finals after coming in as a last minute replacement, found Frana to be an impenetrable force, bowing out 6-3, 7-5.

The opening set proceeded according to serve before Frana broke in the seventh and ninth games, showing exquisite touch from the baseline and combining power in the form of a blazing forehand with finely timed drops that kept his opponent off balance for the most part.

Frana, though, lost his way in the second set as Morejon broke him three consecutive times to take a 4-1 lead and appeared set to level the affair.

Suddenly in trouble, the 30-year-old merely reached back among his 10 years of experience as a professional, adjusting his strategy and reverting to a serve and volley attack.

The plan worked to perfection as a befuddled Morejon caved in under pressure, getting broken in his next two service games -- six and eight -- as well as in the 13th to give Frana game, set and match.

"He was getting used to play from the baseline, he was trying to hit the ball harder and harder, so I started to mix it up a bit with some approaches to the net,'' explained Frana.

Meanwhile, the day's second match severely contrasted the delicate artistry of the first, with power-mongers Brett Steven and Kris Goosens of Belgium trading bombs in an encounter that at times took on the trappings of a military exercise.

Who would run out of ammo first, Steven, the powerfully built New Zealander, or the more slender but gritty Goosens? Steven emerged triumphant -- and surprisingly unscathed -- a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 winner.

It took a tiebreak to determine the first set, Steven taking it with the aid of three double faults by his opponent.

The second set saw the Kiwi seize control with a break in the first game only to surrender his own serve in the very next game. However another break in the fifth proved pivotal.

From there Steven turned up the heat while sending Goosens' game southward and rolling to victory.

"I thought I played pretty good because he's the first real clay-court player I've faced during this tournament,'' said Steven before receiving his post-match massage. "He plays very good from the baseline and there was a very difficult breeze out there again to hold serve from one end. Both of us were having trouble doing that and fortunately I held serve once more than he did in the second set.

Johan Van Herck exposed Nicolas Lapentii for his lack of variety in the last afternoon match with a surprisingly easy 6-4, 6-2 win as the Ecuadorean Davis Cup player suffered for timing among the swirling gusts.

In a tournament where seeds have been an endangered species Sargsian came close to being made extinct by colourfully animated Argentinian Marcelo Charpentier.

What was shaping up as perhaps the best match of the day suffered a cruel twist of fate in the second set when purple-haired Charpentier rolled his ankle while chasing down a ball at the net and eventually withdrew. That after the world number 123 had taken the first set 6-4 over the number seven seed.

Sargsian thus won 4-6, 5-2 (retired).