It's a mouth-watering prospect ? the brute force and fireworks of stocky Franco Squillari versus the baseline flair and style of long and lanky Kristof Vliegen.

After a week of absorbing tennis, the XL Capital Bermuda Open is down to the last four and these two have worked their way through three rounds to be pitted against each other in today's semi-final at Coral Beach Club.

Both advanced to battle for a spot in tomorrow's final with straight-sets victories during yesterday's rain-marred quarter-finals.

Vliegen disposed of Tomas Cakl 7-5, 6-2 while Squillari fought back from some early worries to beat Brian Vahaly of the USA 7-5, 6-3.

Contrasting approaches apart, the Centre Court showdown promises to be quite gripping as the players are unknown quantities to each other, having never met on court before.

"I've never played him so I don't know but he must be good and having a good week to be here in the semi-finals," surmised Squillari when questioned about the Belgian who stands between him and another match in Bermuda.

There is mutual respect in the opposing camp.

"Squillari on clay is always tough to play. We'll see," noted Vliegen. "Tomorrow I will do my best and I hope I play well. If I win the last point I'll be quite happy."

The 22-year-old was all smiles following his result against Cakl on Court Seven in a match that was all about fierce baseline rallies spiced with the occasional incursion into net.

The two sets were starkly different. In the first, there was little to choose between the players as each held serve until the seventh game which heralded a sequence of five consecutive service breaks.

Vliegen struck first, breaking Cakl at love to snatch a 4-3 lead just as the sun began a breakthrough of its own, peeping out from beyond ominous grey clouds.

Disturbed by this invasion into his previously impregnable game, Cakl answered without hesitation, earning a double break on Vliegen and effecting the break back with a forehand past his opponent at net.

Games nine and ten proved an encore with each server failing to hold and the scores being level 5-5. Cakl relinquished serve for the third time in a row in the eleventh game, hurrying his shots to produce some vital errors. Unlike what transpired previously, Vliegen was able to halt the break-and-break-back succession ? with some assistance from some wild Cakl swings ? and held serve to claim the set.

"I was under pressure in the beginning because he was playing quite well but I had the feeling that he was a bit more nervous than me so I started playing harder," recalled Vliegen who later progressed to the doubles semi-finals also.

Buoyed by going a set up, he got the jump on his somewhat despondent Czech rival in the second set and romped to a 4-0 advantage though 23-year-old Cakl squandered three opportunities to break back in the fourth game and another in the sixth game. Thereafter, it was all over bar the shouting.

"I feel pretty good. Like I said before I didn't win too many matches recently so it's nice that the work is starting to pay off," said Vliegen.

Squillari, who dropped three service games before getting his act together in the opening set against Vahaly, shook off a tentative, sloppy start to rebound superbly. Down 4-0 and then 5-2, he suddenly snapped to life and, with searing precision and power, nullified all that Vahaly threw at him.

The 25-year-old American, who had gained his healthy advantage thanks to crisp, clean winners and strong serving, quickly found the ball coming back at him with greater accuracy and ferocity and often he struggled to reply to the Argentinian offensive.

At the other end, southpaw Squillari was clawing back into contention, game by game. Sharply angled topspin was his most telling weapon and he wielded it brilliantly, winning five games straight to sneak the first set from Vahaly who appeared to have had it all wrapped up.

In the second set, Squillari continued his rampage ? though trading early breaks with Vahaly ? with a torrent of untamed power-hitting. Every now and then, the 29-year-old revealed himself a master of the sport's finer points with some unpredictable yet killer drop shots and volleys that Vahaly need not have wasted time trying to retrieve.

Grunting to punctuate his energetic output and his face constantly contorted even when the small Centre Court faithful applauded another of his successes, Squillari pressed further into the ascendancy and zeroed in on his target.

Vahaly saved one match point but was helpless against another piercing serve from across the court. His backhand return clipped the net and bounced out, leaving the umpire

to declare: "Game, set, match, Squillari."

Pleased with how he responded to the challenge, the semi-finalist said: "I made a few early mistakes but then I started playing better and better. He doesn't like long rallies and that was the key to winning this match."

Now, he just has to figure out how to unlock Vliegen's game.