Verdasco beats Almagro to reach Mexican Open semis
Fernando Verdasco defeated fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-6 (5) to reach the semifinals of the Mexican Open on Thursday.
- Associated Press
- Updated: March 02, 2012 11:02 AM IST
Fernando Verdasco defeated fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-6 (5) to reach the semifinals of the Mexican Open on Thursday.
Verdasco trailed 4-1 in the second-set tiebreaker but won six of the last seven points to close out the match against the second-seeded Almagro at The Fairmont Acapulco Princess.
Almagro broke Verdasco when he was serving for the match at 5-4, but the tiebreaker collapse kept him from reaching his second-consecutive final at Mexican Open, and fourth in the last five years.
He was runner-up to countryman David Ferrer last year and won the competition in 2008 and 2009. Ranked 12th in the world, Almagro also won the Brazil Open two weeks ago.
The eighth-seeded Verdasco will next play Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who advanced by beating Jeremy Chardy of France 7-5, 6-1. Wawrinka had 11 aces and saved the only break opportunity he allowed to the 64th-ranked Frenchman.
In the women's quarterfinals, top seed Roberta Vinci of Italy defeated Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-0 after saving all four break points opportunities she allowed to Krajicek. She will play the semifinals against fellow Italian Sara Errani, the No. 3 seed, who ousted seventh seed Estrella Cabeza Candela of Spain 6-4, 6-3.