Acapulco, Mexico – Two-time champion Nicolas Almagro was upset by fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in Thursday's quarterfinal action at the $1.155 million Mexican Open.
Meanwhile, two-time defending champion and No. 1 seed David Ferrer of Spain easily moved on with a 6-2, 6-4 win over countryman Pablo Andujar.
Ferrer, who is fresh off his title in Buenos Aires last week, needed just 74 minutes to win the match.
No. 8 seed Verdasco, the 2004 runner-up, vaulted past the second-seeded Almagro 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) in 1 hour, 52 minutes on the red clay at The Fairmont Acapulco Princess.
The 2008 and '09 Acapulco champion Almagro was last week's Buenos Aires runner-up to Ferrer, who also topped Almagro in last year's title match in Acapulco.
Also Thursday, Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka beat France's Jeremy Chardy 7-5, 6-1 to earn a spot against Verdasco in the semifinals; and Colombia's Santiago Giraldo topped Argentina's Carlos Berlocq 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 and will play Ferrer.
The 2012 Acapulco champ will earn $277,915.
