Almagro, Delbonis advance to semifinals in ..

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Hamburg, Germany • Third-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain rallied to beat defending champion Juan Monaco of Argentina 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 Friday for a place in the semifinals of the German Tennis Championships.

Qualifier Federico Delbonis of Argentina upset 14th-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8), 6-4 to make the semifinals of a tournament for the second time in his career.

The fifth-seeded Monaco beat Almagro in the Hamburg semifinals last year.

Delbonis' previous semifinal appearance was two years ago on clay in Stuttgart.

After fending off a pair of match points in the second set, Delbonis failed to serve out the match at 5-3. He then wasted two match points on Verdasco's serve before the Spaniard double-faulted on the third.

Almagro, Delbonis advance to semifinals in Hamburg