Rafael Nadal survived an early scare at the Barcelona Open on Friday to beat Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 6-2 for a place in the semifinals. The top seed, trying to win the title for the fourth successive time, looked off-color early on to trail 4-2 but roared back to clinch the match. He will next meet unseeded German Denis Gremelmayr, who edged out another Spaniard, 10th seed Nicolas Almagro 6-2, 3-6, 7-6. Nadal conceded just four games to the Argentine the last time they met but Chela began superbly, taking risks and putting the top seed under rare pressure. Chela broke the Nadal serve to love to lead 4-2 but the match effectively hinged on an epic seventh game. Chela had five chances to extend his lead to 5-2 but Nadal suddenly sprung to life, taking his third break-point chance to get back on terms. He broke again two games later before serving out the set and after breaking the Argentine in the first game of the second set, he eased to victory. David Ferrer came through his second tough battle in as many days to reach the semifinals, beating Spanish compatriot Tommy Robredo 7-6, 6-4. The world number five, pushed hard by Ecuadorian Nicolas Lapentti in the previous round, battled past the sixth seed in a match lasting two hours, five minutes. He will play 14th seed Stanislas Wawrinka for a place in the final after the Swiss fought off the challenge of another Spaniard, Albert Montanes, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. Gonzalez ousts Safin Chile's Fernando Gonzalez ousted former world number one Marat Safin of Russia to reach the semifinals of the ATP tournament here on Friday as top seed Paul-Henri Mathieu likewise advanced. Second seed Gonzalez needed 1hr 30min to come through a 6-3, 7-5 winner against Safin, who was playing his first ATP quarterfinal since August 2007. Gonzalez, ranked 15, and winner this year of the Vina del Mar tournament on clay, will next meet Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui who beat Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4 in their quarterfinal. El Aynaoui, who won the 2002 edition, became at 36 the oldest player to reach an ATP semi since Jimmy Connors, who was 40 when he managed that in 1993. Mathieu, the world number 18, took two hours to get past Croatian Marin Cilic, ranked 50, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Mathieu now faces Simone Bolelli, ranked 58 and who ousted South Korean Lee Hyung-taik 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). Zvonareva in semis In the Czech Republic, top-seeded Vera Zvonareva cruised into the semifinals of the Prague Open on Friday by beating unseeded Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-1, 6-2. The 13th-ranked Russian will next meet Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia who beat Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. Also Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic upset Shahar Peer of Israel 7-6 (5), 6-2. Zakopalova will face Victoria Azarenka, who ousted Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 6-1. Garrigues in semifinals In Morocco, top-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues advanced to the semifinals of the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, easily beating Ukraine's Olga Savchuk, 6-1, 6-1 on Friday. Medina Garrigues next will face Greta Arn of Hungary, who likewise had an easy 6-1, 6-2 win over Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic. Gisela Dulko of Argentina won 6-0, 6-3 over Romania's Sorana Cirstea in her quarterfinal. She will face No. 4 Aravane Rezai of France, who needed three sets to beat sixth-seeded Alisa Kleybanova of Russia 5-7, 7-5, 7-5.
