NICE, France, May 20 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Fernando Verdasco continued his hot run on the clay-court circuit Wednesday with a quarterfinal victory at the Nice Open.
Verdasco eliminated Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 in a match that took 2 hours, 20 minutes.
Verdasco has won a title in Barcelona this year and was a runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the Monte Carlos Masters.
In Friday's semifinals, Verdasco will meet Leonardo Mayer. After dropping the first set, Mayer defeated fifth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. It is Mayer's first victory in a year over a player ranked among the top 30 in the world. Mayer is ranked 59th.
Potito Starace reached the semifinals by defeating Gael Monfils 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. Richard Gasquet will be Starace's semifinal opponent after defeating Olivier Rochus 6-4, 6-2.
