Former French Open tennis champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain has reached the semifinals of the Open Seat Godo clay court tournament in Barcelona.
Ferrero, unseeded at this event, gave the home fans reason to cheer by knocking the reigning French Open champion Gaston Gaudio of Argentina out of the quarterfinals in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. The Spanish player next faces Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, a straight-set winner over Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-4, 6-4.
Also Friday, Czech player Radek Stepanek ousted Swiss qualifier Stanislas Wawrinka in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The Czech player next faces rising Spanish star Rafael Nadal, who advanced when his opponent, Agustin Calleri of Argentina, retired in the second set with a back injury 6-2, 3-0.
The tournament is one of several clay-court events players are using to prepare for the French Open, which starts May 23 in Paris.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
