Gstaad: Unseeded Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci followed up his win over top seed Stanislas Wawrinka by beating unlucky German Nicolas Kiefer on Friday to reach the semi-finals at the Gstaad Open.
Sixth seed Kiefer won the first set 6-3 but was forced to retire with an ankle injury after the first game of the second set, handing victory to the 21-year-old left-hander.
Bellucci, ranked 119th in the world, is attempting to reach the second final of his career after losing to Spain's Tommy Robredo at Costa da Sauipe in Brazil earlier in the season.
Fellow Brazilian Marcos Daniel joined Bellucci in the last four by beating Frenchman Florent Serra 6-4, 7-6 to reach his first ATP semi-final.
Daniel rallied from 1-4 down in the first set to win five straight games and again recovered in the second when he twice fought back from a break down before winning the tiebreak 6-1.
It is the first time since Vina del Mar in 2004 that two Brazilians have reached the last four of an ATP tournament.
Russian Igor Andreev, who has not won an ATP tournament since 2005, became the only seed to reach the semi-finals when he beat Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-3.
Germany's Andreas Beck completed the line-up when he overcame Romania's Victor Crivoi 6-4, 7-6.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, August 01, 2009, 08:39