Gaudio reaches Mercedes semifinals

STUTTGART, Germany, July 16 (UPI) -- French Open champion Gaston Gaudio of Argentina defeated Czech Jiri Novak Friday to gain the semifinals of Germany's Mercedes Cup.

Gaudio, seeded second, won 6-4, 6-3 over the fifth-seeded Novak for the 14th win in his last 15 matches and will next play David Ferrer.

Ferrer defeated fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5.

Russia's Nikolay Davydenko beat Albert Costa of Spain 6-3, 6-4.

Davydenko will next play Argentine Guillermo Canas, who moved into the semis with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic.