BASTAD, Sweden(AP) Second-seeded Robin Soderling has beaten Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the Swedish Open.
Defending champion Tommy Robredo, seeded third in the clay-court tournament, and Juan Monaco also advanced on Friday.
It was Soderling's second win over Almagro in less than a month. He also won a third-round match at Wimbledon.
Soderling will play either Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden or Jurgen Melzer of Austria.
Robredo, who is playing in Bastad for the ninth straight year, closed in on a third final appearance by defeating Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-4, 6-0.
He will play Monaco, who advanced when top-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain retired with a right calf injury trailing 6-1, 3-1.