Ferrero sails on in Brazil

Juan Carlos Ferrero booked his place in the Brasil Open semi-finals against Ricardo Mello after defeating Carlos Berlocq.

Spaniard lands semi-final spot in Costa do Sauipe

Top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero booked his place in the Brasil Open semi-finals against wild card Ricardo Mello after beating Carlos Berlocq in his quarter-final clash. The Spaniard, ranked 22 in the world, ousted Argentinean Berlocq 6-3 6-2 in one hour and 31 minutes in Costa do Sauipe to earn his spot in the final four. Meanwhile, Brazilian Mello saw off two seeds in one day, defeating Victor Hanescu of Romania 7-5 6-3 before disposing of third seed and compatriot Thomaz Bellucci 6-3 7-6 (7-3). Bellucci was also competing in his second match of the day after Friday's washout forced him to play his second-round clash against Daniel Gimeno-Traver, who he overcame 6-4 6-2. Igor Andreev of Russia will face Poland's Lukasz Kubot in the second semi-final on Saturday. Kubot was also made to play two games in one day, taking out second seed Alberto Montanes in the second round 6-2 6-2 before prevailing in his quarter-final match against Fabio Fognini, who had earlier seen off second round opponent Marcel Granollers of Spain 0-6 6-1 7-6 (7-1). Fourth seed Andreev beat sixth seed Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-1 6-1 in his last-eight encounter.