Qualifier Schukin Upsets Top Seed; Almagro, Gasquet Reach SFs

© Christian PfanderRichard Gasquet is one win away from reaching his third ATP World Tour final of the season.

Kazakhstani qualifier Yuri Schukin recorded the biggest win of his career at the Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad on Friday for a place in his first ATP World Tour semi-final. Schukin, currently No. 147 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings, kept his nerve to beat top-seeded Russian and World No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 in two hours and 13 minutes.

Youzhny, who also exited the Gstaad quarter-finals in 2008, dropped to a 29-12 match record on the season. He has lifted the BMW Open title in Munich (d. Cilic) and finished runner-up at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam (l. to Soderling) and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (l. to Djokovic).

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Schukin’s next test will come against seventh-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who needed one hour and 39 minutes to dispatch Spanish No. 4 seed Albert Montanes 7-6(5), 6-4. Gasquet converted two of the nine break points he created and served nine aces to secure his 23rd tour-level win of the season.

"The weather and the conditions changed a lot from yesterday," reflected Gasquet. "Today the tie-break decided the match. It was a good match and it's nice to be in the semifinal."

Focusing on his match with Schukin, Gasquet said: "I watched his match against Youzhny. He played well and has nothing to lose." 

The 24-year-old Gasquet won the Gstaad title in 2006, with victory over Feliciano Lopez in the final. He is through to his third ATP World Tour semi-final of the season and will look to maintain his perfect record by advancing to his third final, having lifted the trophy in Nice (d. Verdasco) and finished runner-up in Sydney (l. to Baghdatis).

Second seed Nicolas Almagro kept alive his hopes of winning a seventh ATP World Tour title after he defeated Jeremy Chardy of France 6-2, 7-6(5) in 83 minutes. The World No. 18, who has a 3-0 record against Chardy, notched his 26th clay-court win of the year (36-18 overall record).

"Today I played very well during the first set. I had some problems with the altitude and I can and need to play better in the semi-final," assessed Almagro. "I had two tough matches at the beginning of the tournament and now I am starting playing better. I will have to put more pressure on the opponent during the next match."

World No. 74 Daniel Gimeno-Traver has reached his second ATP World Tour semi-final in the post-Wimbledon clay-court swing. The Spaniard saved four of five break points to knock out Igor Andreev of Russia 6-2, 6-4 in 72 minutes and set up an all-Spanish semi-final with Almagro. Gimeno-Traver, who improved to a 13-18 match record on the season, advanced to the last four at the recent MercedesCup in Stuttgart (l. to Monfils).

Looking ahead to the clash with Gimeno-Traver, Almagro noted: "We last played in Buenos Aires where I lost. It will be a tough match, but different from Buenos Aires since this is the semi-final and we both want reach the final. It will be a big fight."