KITZBUHEL, Austria, July 26 (UPI) -- Alex Corretja of Spain defeated good friend and top-seeded countryman Albert Costa Friday, 6-1, 6-2, to advance to the semifinals of the Generali Open.
The eighth seed, Corretja won 58 of 87 total points, taking nine straight games with four service breaks after the friends split the first two games. He needed just over an hour to dismantle Costa, who had won the last three meetings between the two.
"I was suspecting a tough match, but I'm happy it wasn't," Corretja said. "He had beaten me twice already this year and that wasn't easy for me. He made a lot of mistakes on his forehand, which helped me a lot."
The French Open champion, Costa fell to 6-8 all-time against Corretja, who was the best man at Costa's wedding.
"I played good and he played bad. That's why I won so easy," Corretja said. "It's nice to beat one of the best players in the world."
Next up for Corretja will be sixth-seeded Gaston Gaudio of Argentina, who dispatched Nicolas Massu of Chile, 6-4, 6-3. Corretja is 4-1 all-time against Gaudio, including a win in the final at Gstaad, Switzerland two weeks ago.
Saturday's semifinals will have a Davis Cup feel to them as the other showdown also is a Spain-Argentina matchup between Juan Carlos Ferrero and Mariano Zabaleta.
The second seed, Ferrero advanced with a 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 victory over No. 10 Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina, reaching the semifinals here for the first time.
Ferrero, 22, lost to Costa in the French Open final. His lone title this year came at the Tennis Masters Series-Monte Carlo.
Zabaleta, the 12th seed, eliminated No. 4 Andrei Pavel of Romania, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. He in 0-2 all-time against Ferrero, but the players have not met in two years.
