Daniil Medvedev defeated Ilya Ivashka on Friday to reach the 's-Hertogenbosch semi-finals and move closer to regaining the world top ranking.
The top-seeded Russian downed his 41st-ranked Belarusian rival 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 in one hour and 51 minutes at the Wimbledon warm-up event.
Medvedev will reclaim the world number one ranking from Novak Djokovic on Monday for the first time since March.
Medvedev and Ivaskha, as well as a host of other Russian and Belarusian players, have been banned from Wimbledon following the invasion of Ukraine.
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"I don't have many points to defend on grass and I have some to win, so hopefully I can play well, starting here," said Medvedev.
"Every round is points and the higher you get, the more you need to step up."
In Saturday's semi-final, Medvedev will take on France's Adrian Mannarino who won the most recent edition of the event in the Netherlands in 2019.
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Mannarino saw off Brandon Nakashima of the United States 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-4 in his quarter-final.
Nottingham Open: Dan Evans keeps home challenge alive
Top-seeded Dan Evans kept alive the home challenge at the Nottingham Open on Friday.
The British player reached the semifinals of the men's grass-court tournament by beating Marc-Andrea Huesler of Switzerland 6-4, 6-4.
However, two other British players bowed out in the quarterfinals, with Liam Broady losing 7-6 (1), 1-6, 6-4 to Jack Sock of the United States and Ryan Peniston losing 6-3, 6-4 to Alexei Popyrin of Australia.
Jordan Thompson became the second Australian to reach the last four after defeating Mikhail Kukushkin in three sets and will play Popyrin next.
In the women's event, top-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil. Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic and Alison Riske of the United States also made it into the semis taking place Saturday.
(with inputs from AP)
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