COSTA DO SAUIPE, Brazil (AP) Top-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain beat Rui Machado of Portugal 6-2, 6-4 to reach the Brazil Open semifinals.
Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine also advanced Thursday, beating Italy's Potito Starace 6-3, 6-4.
Standing between the fourth-seeded Dolgopolov and his first ATP final is unseeded Ricardo Mello of Brazil, who routed Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-1, 6-0 to reach the semis for the second straight year.
In a late match, No. 3 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil faced No. 5 Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina.