STUTTGART — Fabio Fognini of Italy beat top-seeded Tommy Haas of Germany 6-4, 6-2 Friday to reach the semifinals of the Mercedes Cup. Second-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany avoided a similar upset by beating Gael Monfils of France 6-4, 6-4 to advance. Haas saved four match points before sending a backhand wide to send Fognini into his third semifinal of the year. He lost the previous two, in Acapulco and Monte Carlo. “It's my second semifinal in Stuttgart, maybe I can go all the way,” Fognini said. “I just played my tennis and it worked for me.” Fognini will next play Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, who advanced when German opponent Michael Berrer retired with a left elbow injury. Agut was leading 6-2, 0-1 when Berrer quit. Haas, at 35 the oldest player in the top 100, said Fognini played better on the key points. “I had five break points in the second set and if you don't use them you can't win,” Haas said. Victor Hanescu of Romania also reached the semifinals by upsetting fourth-seeded Benoit Paire of France 7-5, 6-2. It's the first time Hanescu has made it into the last four of a tournament since Nice in 2011. He now has a 4-0 record against Paire, all on clay. Hanescu next faces Kohlschreiber, who was up two breaks of serve in each set before closing them out. Monfils had seven double-faults. Berdych, Almagro lose Top seeds Tomas Berdych and Nicolas Almagro were knocked out in the Swedish Open quarterfinals on Friday. Unseeded Thiemo De Bakker of the Netherlands beat top-seeded Berdych 7-5, 7-5, while second-seeded Almagro was defeated by Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Berdych and Almagro were playing their second matches of the clay-court tournament after receiving first-round byes. In the third quarterfinal upset, fifth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria rolled over third-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-3, 6-2. Carlos Berlocq of Argentina beat Albert Ramos of Spain 6-3, 6-4 to set up a semifinal against De Bakker. Verdasco will face Dimitrov in Saturday's other semi. Russell, Mahut advance American Michael Russell advanced to the Hall of Fame Championships semifinals by outlasting No. 3 seed Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands 7-6 (3), 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5) Thursday. Also, French wild card Nicolas Mahut beat Michal Przysiezny of Poland 7-6 (5), 6-4. Russell lost the first three points of the deciding tiebreaker before rallying to reach his second career ATP semifinal. He raised both arms in triumph when Sijsling hit a backhand return long and wide. Russell and Sijsling took center court after a couple of rain delays pushed back play about two hours. Russell won the final four points of the first tiebreak, but blew a 5-3 lead in the second set. Vinci through Second-seeded Roberta Vinci is through to the Italiacom Open quarterfinals following a 6-2, 7-6 (3) victory over 2011 runner-up Polona Hercog of Slovenia Thursday. Vinci was broken four times in the second set by Hercog. The Italian next faces fifth-seeded Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino, who beat Nastassja Burnett of Italy 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Third-seeded Kristina Mladenovic was eliminated after a second-round upset by Estrella Cabeza Candela of Spain. The 20-year-old Frenchwoman lost 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (6). Candela faces Renata Voracova in the quarterfinals. Fourth-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic was safely through after beating Karin Knapp of Italy 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in a match which lasted 2 hours, 40 minutes. Zakopalova will play Dinah Pfizenmaier of Germany. — Agencies
