Vina del Mar, Chile (SportsNetwork.com) - Top-seeded Fabio Fognini fought past fifth-seeded Jeremy Chardy in the quarterfinals at the Chile Open tennis tournament on Friday.
Fognini needed all three sets and just under two hours to move past the Frenchman Chardy, claiming a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 triumph on the red clay at Club Naval.
Next up for the Italian Fognini, who also made the semis here in 2011, will be third-seeded Nicolas Almagro after he cruised past Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel 6-2, 7-5 to advance in the first event on the ATP's 'Golden Swing' through Latin America.
The other semifinal will feature a pair of unseeded players after Columbia's Santiago Giraldo and Argentina's Leonardo Mayer each claimed quarterfinal victories on Friday.
Giraldo upended seventh-ranked Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez by a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 margin, giving the 2011 runner-up in Vina del Mar his 100th career ATP World Tour victory.
Mayer advanced with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 triumph over Spaniard Daniel Gimeno- Traver.
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