The two top seeds Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer reach the semifinal in Brazil, but in different fashion.
Nadal
The King of Clay conceded only 1 game to Joao Sousa. The Portuguese was playing a great tennis, but eventually he did hit the wall against Rafa to lose in 75 minutes. Match Stats
Nadal: I have played my best match of the tournament
Rafa commented “I think I have improved in everything. I think I played a complete match. I had my best game of the tournament, and not just that but I played at a very high level. Really, I did things I wasn’t able to do a few days ago. I moved better. I was more intense, more aggressive.
Rafa will play Andujar in the semifinal. The Spaniard has beaten Robredo 6-1 6-1. Head to head is 2-0 for Rafa that has never conceded a single set to Andujar.
Ferrer
David struggled a lot to beat world no. 130 Thomaz Bellucci. David was not playing at his very best to beat the Brazilian only after 2 hours and 23 minutes. Match Stats.
David will play Dolgopolov in the semifinal that has trashed Fognini 6-1 6-1 in the quarters. Head to head is 7-1 for Ferrer, but only 1-1 on clay.
