VALENCIA, Spain, April 13 (UPI) -- Defending champion Nicolas Almagro Friday advanced to the semifinals of the clay-court Valencia Open tennis tournament in Spain.
Almagro, at No. 3 the only seeded player left in this week's tournament, moved out of the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 1-0 decision when seventh-seeded Filippo Volandri was unable to continue because of a stomach illness.
He is paired against Santiago Ventura in Saturday's semifinals. Ventura rallied for a 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 win over Alberto Martin on Friday.
Ivan Navarro Pastor and Potito Starace are to play in the other semifinal. Pastor was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Evgeny Korolev in his quarterfinal while Starace took his match over Marcel Granollers-Pujol 6-4, 6-4.
Saturday's semifinal winners will meet Sunday for the Valencia Open title. The tournament champion will take home $78,600.
