Acapulco, MX – Three of the four semifinalists at the $1.213 million Mexican Open tennis event hail from Spain, as David Ferrer, Rafael Nadal and Nicolas Almagro were each easy winners on Thursday.
Ferrer, who has won this title three years running and is the top seed this week, blitzed Italian Paolo Lorenzi, 6-3, 6-1, in 72 minutes to win his 18th straight match on the red clay at the Fairmont Acapulco Princess.
Nadal, seeded second, won his 40th consecutive clay court quarterfinal match by downing Leonardo Mayer of Argentina, 6-1, 7-5. The former world No. 1 captured the Mexican Open in 2005.
The third-seeded Almagro, a back-to-back champ here in 2008 and '09, cruised past eighth-seeded Argentinian Horacio Zeballos, 6-3, 6-4, to set up an anticipated match against Nadal on Friday.
Italy's Fabio Fognini cruised to a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Santiago Giraldo of Colombia to earn a date with Ferrer in the semis.
The 2013 Acapulco winner will claim $291,800.
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