Pella posts second upset at Power Horse Cup

DUSSELDORF, Germany, May 23 (UPI) -- Qualifier Guido Pella continued his upset run Thursday with a straight-set win in quarterfinal play of the Power Horse Cup tennis tournament in Germany.

Pella pulled within one victory for his first ATP finals appearance with a 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 win over seventh-seeded Viktor Troicki. Pella ousted top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic in the second round.

Pella pulled off six breaks against Troicki, with four coming in the second set. He won as many points (43-43) when Troicki served as Troicki managed.

He'll need a third consecutive win over a seeded player to reach his first ATP final as third-seeded Juan Monaco defeated Tobias Kamke 6-3, 6-4 in just more than an hour. Monaco converted five of his six break chances in the match.

No. 6-seeded Jarkko Nieminen was awarded a walkover win when second-seeded Tommy Haas retired before the match started.

The fourth semifinal slot went to Igor Sijsling, who routed Jan Hajek 6-3, 6-1 in 57 minutes. Sijsling fought off all six of the break points he faced while taking about 75 percent of the points on serve.

Monaco and Pella have never before met in an ATP event. Nieminen has won two of his three matches against Sijsling, including a three-set battle in California earlier this year.