BARCELONA: Stanislas Wawrinka reduced the Spanish contingent by one on Friday as he rallied to oust Albert Montanes 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4 from the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open.
With locals having won six ofthe last seven editions, the Swiss Davis Cup teammate of Roger Federer made a stand on the clay to reach his second semifinal at the Real club. Second seed David Ferrer put a local into the last four, stopping number six compatriot Tommy Robredo 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 to line up against Wawrinka.
The pair played for two hours, five minutes, producing nearly 50 unforced errors between them in the battle. King of clay Rafael Nadal was waiting in the wings in the hopes of taking a step closer to his fourth consecutive title here, aiming to win his 101st clay match from 102 outings as he faced Argentine Juan Chela.
Number ten Nicolas Almagro was to play German Denis Gremelmayr. Wawrinka is no stranger to the Barcelona semis, having gone this far in 2006 in his last appearance.
The number 27 is riding a fresh wave of confidence after upsetting third seed Davis Nalbandian on Thursday. But the Swiss needed just almost three hours to struggle past Montanes, ranked 87. “I needed to play very aggressive,” said Wawrinka. “I had to take chances as he’s such a good play player.
“I should have closed it out in two sets, but I couldn’t capitalise on all of my chances. “Still, I played a good match, it’s great to go through again.” Montanes did not help his chances in the duel, striking six double-faults and losing serve four times.
Wawrinka was broken while serving for the match at 5-3 but returned the favour a game later to move through after holding a 5-2 lead and a match point in the second set. Wawrinka was playing in his third quarter of the season, reaching January’s Doha final where he lost to Andy Murray. He played an Indian Wells quarter against Novak Djokovic and improved to 17-8 on the season.
