July 13, 2008	Sunday	Rajab 9, 1429

STUTTGART (Germany), July 12: Second-seeded Richard Gasquet of France beat Albert Montanes of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (5) on Friday at the Stuttgart Cup to reach his first semi-final this year.

Gasquet, ranked 15th, saved seven of eight break points at the event, winning just before a thunderstorm flooded the court by seconds.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Quarter-finals: Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) bt 4-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 7-6(3), 6-3; 8-Eduardo Schwank (Argentina) bt Jan Hernych (Czech Republic) 6-0, 4-6, 6-3; 6-Agustin Calleri (Argentina) bt Michael Berrer (Germany) 6-4, 6-2; 2-Richard Gasquet (France) beat Albert Montanes (Spain) 6-3, 7-6(5).

WAWRINKA IN LAST FOUR

GSTAAD (Switzerland): Hometown favourite Stanislas Wawrinka beat Guillermo Canas of Argentina 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) on Friday to advance to the semi-finals of the Swiss Open.

The top-seeded Wawrinka, a finalist here in 2005, was down a break in the third before rallying for the win over the No 8-seed.

Wawrinka will face Romania’s Victor Hanescu, who defeated French qualifier Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-6 (3).

Results:

Quarter-finals: 7-Igor Andreev (Russia) bt Marin Cilic (Croatia) 7-6(4), 6-3; 1-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) bt 8-Guillermo Canas (Argentina) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(2); Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) bt 3-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3; Victor Hanescu (Romania) bt Jeremy Chardy (France) 6-3 7-6(3).

FERRER INTO SEMIS

BASTAD (Sweden): Spanish top seed and defending champion David Ferrer reached the Swedish Open semi-finals on Friday after beating home hope Robin Soderling 7-5, 6-7, 6-1.

Results:

Quarter-finals: 3-Tommy Robredo (Spain) bt 7-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) 6-2, 7-6(4); 1-David Ferrer (Spain) bt 8-Robin Soderling (Sweden) 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-1; 2-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) bt Bjorn Rehnquist (Sweden) 2-6, 6-1, 6-0; 4-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) bt Potito Starace (Italy) 6-3, 6-2.—Agencies