Ferrero Cruises Into Semis; Top Two Seeds Davydenko, Melzer Fall

© ATP Studena Croatia OpenPotito Starace ended the challenge of No. 3 seed Ivan Ljubicic.

Former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero avoided the seeds exodus in the quarter-finals of the ATP Studena Croatia Open Friday as he advanced to the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tennis tournament with a crushing 6-1, 6-2 win over Alexandr Dolgopolov.

The fourth-seeded Spaniard saved all four break points he faced and converted four of the seven opportunities he created to race to victory in just 50 minutes against his sixth-seeded opponent. He is one win away from reaching the Umag final for the second year in a row; last year he finished runner-up to Nikolay Davydenko.

The 30-year-old Ferrero, currently No. 22 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings, is through to his fifth ATP World Tour clay-court semi-final of the season. He won the titles in Costa do Sauipe (d. Kubot) and Buenos Aires (d. Ferrer) and finished runner-up in Acapulco (l. to Ferrer) all during the Latin American “Golden Swing”, and two weeks ago he was a semi-finalist in Stuttgart (l. to Montanes).

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In a re-match of the 2009 Umag semi-finals Ferrero will face Italian Andreas Seppi, who cruised to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over second-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer. World No. 55 Seppi created 11 break point chances against Melzer and was able to convert four of them as he wrapped up victory in 66 minutes to avenge the semi-final defeat he suffered against Melzer last week in Hamburg. Both players had won their second-round matches earlier in the day after a wash out in Umag on Thursday.

“It was different conditions this week compared to when we played in Hamburg last week,” noted Seppi. “Today maybe it worked in my favour more. He missed more today for sure than last week. The conditions here are good for my game. I came here with good confidence and I really enjoy this tournament.”

Eighth-seeded Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela also sprung a surprise as he ousted defending champion Davydenko 6-2, 6-1 in just 65 minutes. World No. 56 Chela, who won his fifth ATP World Tour title in Houston (d. Querrey) in April, improved to a 6-1 record against Davydenko as he saved five of seven break points and broke serve seven times.

“I think I played the perfect match today,” said Chela. “I gave everything I had and everything I tried worked. I managed to take all my opportunities and I’m really happy to be through to the semi-finals. He didn’t play at his best level but you still have to do everything to beat him, and I managed to do that.”

World No. 6 Davydenko dropped to a 19-9 mark on the year; he was sidelined from Indian Wells until Halle with a left-wrist injury and has not won back-to-back matches since his return.

Italian Potito Starace rounded out an evening dominated by upsets as he accounted for third-seeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 7-6(6). World No. 16 Ljubicic saved seven of 10 break points and fired seven aces, but it was not enough to prevent Starace securing victory in one hour and 53 minutes. Both men had played their second-round matches earlier in the day.