Bogota, Colombia – Alejandro Falla defeated top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic in three sets Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Claro Open Colombia tennis event.
After dropping the opening set to the World No. 16 Tipsarevic, Falla bounced back to take the second before dominating the early stages of the third en route to a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory on the hard courts at Centro de Alto Rendimiento.
Next up for the native Colombian will be Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who also rallied in his quarterfinal bout with Italian Matteo Viola to post a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 decision.
Second-seeded Kevin Anderson had little problems in his Friday match, with the South African cruising to a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over No. 6 seed Santiago Giraldo to punch his ticket to Saturday's semis.
Anderson's next opponent will be Ivo Karlovic, who prevailed in a pair of tiebreakers to upend fifth-seeded Adrian Mannarino by a 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3) score.
The winner of this inaugural $638,000 tournament will earn $115,200.
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