Montanes ousts Simon from Estoril Open

ESTORIL, Portugal, May 8 (UPI) -- Albert Montanes won a third-set tiebreaker Friday and eliminated top-seeded Gilles Simon from the $595,000 clay-court Estoril Open in Portugal.

Montanes, seeded seventh, and Simon each broke the other's serve six times in the three-hour match but Montanes advanced with a 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) triumph. It was the first time in three career meetings that Montanes had beaten Simon.

Second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko took a step to a fourth Estoril Open finals appearance with a 6-4, 6-3 rout of No. 6-seeded Mardy Fish. Davydenko won in Estoril in 2003 and was the runner-up in 2006 and 2008.

He draws fourth-seeded James Blake in Saturday's semifinals. Blake needed just 48 minutes to defeat Florent Serra 6-4, 6-1. He is 6-0 lifetime against Davydenko but the two have never before met on clay.

Paul Capdeville claimed a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Oscar Hernandez to earn the semifinals spot against Montanes. They haven't played each other in their careers.