Pablo Carreno-Busta is through to his first ATP semifinal after coming back from a set down to beat Fabio Fognini on Friday in Oeiras. Carreno-Busta books a meeting with Stanislas Wawrinka, while David Ferrer beats Victor Hanescu in straight sets to ensure a showdown against fellow seed Andreas Seppi.
Pablo Carreno-Busta’s remarkable 2013 run continued with the biggest win of his career on Friday at the Portugal Open. For the third time this week, Carreno-Busta recovered from a set deficit–this time in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Fabio Fognini–to book a spot in his first career ATP semifinal after two hours and 12 minutes of play.
Fognini, a recent semifinalist in Monte-Carlo, started well enough and did not come close to dropping serve in the first set. The 25th-ranked Italian converted one of his two break chances before serving out the opener at 5-3.
For Carreno-Busta, however, the deficit was nothing new. The world No. 228, who has won seven Futures titles this season, had already staged comebacks in the final round of qualifying against Javier Marti and in the second round against David Goffin. He raced to a 4-1 lead in set two on Friday before losing three games in a row and being pushed to the brink of defeat facing break point at 4-4. Carreno-Busta managed to hold then broke for the set when Fognini netted a forehand at 4-5, 30-40.
Fognini showed signs of recovering in the third but he could not consolidate an early break. Oeiras’ No. 4 seed completely fell apart starting at 4-4, when a perceived bad call sent him into a lengthy argument with the chair umpire. After Carreno-Busta held, Fognini made four unforced errors–including one double-fault–in the final game to get broken for the match.
Joining Carreno-Busta in the semifinals is David Ferrer, a 6-4, 7-6(2) winner over Victor Hanescu. Hanescu served for the second set at both 5-4 and 6-5 but he could not force a decider. After breaking back twice, Ferrer raced through the ensuing tiebreaker seven points to two as he advanced in one hour and 39 minutes.
The top-seeded Spaniard will face Andreas Seppi on Saturday while Carreno-Busta will battle No. 2 seed Stanislas Wawrinka. Seppi ousted Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-3; Wawrinka ended wild card Gastao Elias’ run 6-4, 6-4.
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