Intro:

David Ferrer beats Juan Monaco to reach semi-finals

Austria's Andreas Haider-Maurer beat Joao Souza of Brazil 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-4 in Rio de Janeiro on Friday (20 February) to reach his first semi-final in an ATP World Tour 500 event.

Fourth seed Fabio Fognini forced his way past Federico Delbonis of Argentina, 6-4, 6-7 (10), 7-6 (9), early on Saturday (21 February) in the quarter-finals of the Rio Open.

Top seed Rafael Nadal beat Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas, 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, in the early hours of Saturday (21 February) to reach the semi-finals at the Rio Open.

Script:

Plenty of tennis played ATP in Rio de Janeiro, we kick start our round up of the action with David Ferrer against Argentina's Juan Monaco.

Forced to play in scorching conditions on centre court of the Jockey Club Brasileiro, the Spaniard struggled as he dropped the second set and was forced to play out a decisive third.

He did eventually recover to book a semi-final place winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

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The number two seed will face world number 74 Andreas Haider-Maurer in the last four after the Austrian overcame Joao Souza.

The Brazilian wild card had the backing of the home crowd but it wasn't enough as he fell 7-6 1-6 6-4 in a match that lasted over two hours.

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Meanwhile, Australian Open doubles champion Fabio Fognini also had to endure a marathon encounter to book his place in the semis.

The Italian beat 24-year-old Argentine Federico Delbonis 6-4, 6-7(10), 7-6(9) in a match lasting over three hours.

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His reward will be a semi-final encounter with the world's best clay court player, Rafa Nadal.

The Spaniard is playing in his first clay-court tournament of the season and faced a stern test againt Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas.

Nevertheless, Nadal came out on top, although he did need three sets to do so, winning 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 to set up the match with Fognini.