Roger Federer struggled to dominate 146th-ranked Frederico Gil at the Estoril Open, finding his form late in the match to win 6-4, 6-1 and reach the semifinals of the clay-court tournament. Federer will meet 104th-ranked Denis Gremelmayr in Saturday's semifinals. The German defeated Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. Second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko also advanced but the Russian needed three sets to get past seventh-seeded Frenchman Marc Gicquel 6-4, 5-7, 6-3. Davydenko next plays Frenchman Florent Serra, who beat Italian Flavio Cipolla 6-1, 6-1. In the women's event, Russian Maria Kirilenko trounced fifth-seeded Tathiana Garbin of Italy, 6-0, 6-1. Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic upset Camille Pin of France 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Sixth-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic eliminated Italy's Karin Knapp 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, and Estonia's Maret Ani overcame Olga Savchuk of Ukraine, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4.Almagro in semis Fifth-seeded Nicolas Almagro boosted his hopes of a third straight Valencia Open title with a 6-3, 6-2 win over second-seeded Juan Monaco in the quarterfinals on Friday. Almagro, who is also aiming for his third ATP title of the season, won all four of his break points against the Argentine in his 13th straight win in the tournament. In Saturday's semifinals, the Spaniard will face the only unseeded player remaining in the tournament, Russia's Evgeny Korolev who beat unseeded Dutchman Robin Haase 7-5, 6-4. Top-seeded David Ferrer advanced to the last four by winning a tough match against seventh-seeded fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 1-6, 7-5. Ferrer will play third-seeded Tommy Robredo, who became the third Spaniard to progress when eighth-seeded Potito Starace of Italy retired with a hip injury when trailing 3-0 in the second set. Robredo won the first set 6-3 against last year's finalist. Blake survives teen testWorld number nine James Blake moved into the US Clay Court Championships quarterfinals by defeating 15-year-old Ryan Harrison 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday. Blake will face Argentine Agustin Calleri in the last eight. Calleri, the number five seed, defeated Chilean Paul Capdeville 6-2, 6-1 to book his quarterfinal spot. American Wayne Odesnik reached his first career ATP quarterfinal with a 6-3, 7-5 win over sixth-seeded Israeli Dudi Sela. Odesnik will be up against Argentine Sergio Roitman, who advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Russian Igor Kunitsyn. Spain's Marcel Granollers-Pujol defeated Australia's Peter Luczak 6-3, 6-2 and will next face Brazilian Marcos Daniel.Serena vs. Sharapova Serena Williams winced through a sprained ankle and a first-set wobble to beat Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 and reach the quarterfinals of the Family Circle Cup on Thursday. The fifth-seeded American won the last eight points to set up a clash with Russia's number two seed Maria Sharapova, who defeated Ukrainian Tatiana Perebiynis 7-5, 6-2. Top seed and holder Jelena Jankovic of Serbia made quick work of Russian Anastasia Rodionova to win 6-0, 6-2. Russia's fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva and ninth seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia, 10th-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary and unseeded Alize Cornet of France also advanced to the last eight. Sharapova, who won her first career clay court title on Sunday by beating Dominika Cibulkova at Amelia Island, had opened play on Wednesday with a 6-0, 6-0 second-round victory over American Bethanie Mattek. __
