Ferrero, del Bonis in Mercedes Cup semis

Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-3 in an all-Spanish showdown to reach the semifinals of the clay-court Mercedes Cup on Friday.

Ferrero will next play Federico del Bonis of Argentina, who advanced to his first career semifinal on the tour by cruising past fellow qualifier Pavol Cervenak of Slovakia 6-1, 6-2.

Ferrero is playing in only his third tournament of the year after a long layoff caused by knee and wrist injuries. He was a semifinalist in Stuttgart last year as well.

Pablo Andujar of Spain ended the run of wild card Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, easing past the German 6-2, 6-1 to earn a semifinal match against Lukasz Kubot of Poland. Stebe posted his first two wins on the tour to reach the quarterfinals.

Kubot outlasted Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

All four players have reached the semifinals of a tournament for the first time this year. None of the eight seeded players made it past the second round.