Three of the top four seeds will be in action during the Oeiras semifinals on Saturday. The lone imposter is Pablo Carreno-Busta, who is looking to continue his surprise run against Stanislas Wawrinka. David Ferrer and Andreas Seppi will contest the other semifinal.
(Q) Pablo Carreno-Busta vs. (2) Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka and Pablo Carreno-Busta will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they clash in the semifinals of the Portugal Open on Saturday. Carreno-Busta is already in the midst of his best week as a professional, at least at the ATP level. The 21-year-old Spaniard has won seven Futures titles this season, including six on clay, and he is making an incredibly smooth transition to the big leagues. Carreno-Busta qualified in Casablanca and advanced one round before winning another match in the Barcelona main draw. He qualified again in Oeiras then ousted Julien Benneteau, David Goffin, and Fabio Fognini to book his spot in the last four.
Wawrinka followed up a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed by taking out Albert Ramos and wild card Gastao Elias. The 16th-ranked Swiss battled past Ramos 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 before having an easier time with Elias in a 6-4, 6-4 victory. Wawrinka, a quarterfinalist in Monte-Carlo, is a solid 18-8 for his 2013 campaign. This is the first-ever ATP semifinal for Carreno-Busta, who had never even been in a quarterfinal before Friday. Experience clearly is not on the underdog’s side, but it is also apparent that he has no fear whatsoever of the big stage. At the same time, however, Wawrinka is the most talented player Carreno-Busta has ever faced and the favorite will likely have too much game in what should be an entertaining three-setter.
Pick: Wawrinka in 3
[polldaddy poll=7080047]
(1) David Ferrer vs. (3) Andreas Seppi
David Ferrer and Andreas Seppi will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers when they meet on Saturday. Ferrer has dominated all four of their previous encounters in easy straight sets, including three on clay. They most recently faced each other at 2011 Nice event, with Ferrer cruising
6-3, 6-2.
Seppi, however, is a completely different player now. The 29-year-old enjoyed the best season of his career in 2012, when he won two titles, reached another final, advanced to the Rome quarters in dramatic fashion, and took Novak Djokovic to five sets in the fourth round of the French Open. Seppi, currently registering at a career-high mark of No. 18 in the world, has defeated Alejandro Falla and Tommy Robredo this week to improve his 2013 record to 14-10. Both Seppi and Ferrer struggled at the start of this clay-court swing. The Italian lost his openers in Monte-Carlo and Bucharest, while Ferrer skipped Monte-Carlo and was upset by Dmitry Tursunov right off the bat in Barcelona. Oeiras’ top seed, however, may be back on track following victories over Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Victor Hanescu. Ferrer, who owns two titles this year plus a runner-up trophy from Miami, is 27-6 for the season.
Seppi is not quite as on fire now as he was in 2012, but this should still result in by far their most competitive encounter to date. Ferrer needed three three sets to get past Roger-Vasselin and barely won the second against Hanescu, so he is clearly not up to his early-season standard right now. Their past history, however, is glaring in Ferrer’s favor so look for the favorite to get the job done in three tight sets.
Pick: Ferrer in 3[polldaddy poll=7080056]
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