Third-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain rallied to beat defending champion Juan Monaco of Argentina 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 Friday for a place in the semifinals of the German Tennis Championships.
He will play Fabio Fognini, who beat Tommy Haas for the second time in two weeks to reach the semifinals, with a 6-2, 6-4 win over the second-seeded home favorite.
The 12th-seeded Italian is looking for his second straight title after winning his first tournament in Stuttgart, where he beat Haas in the quarterfinals.
Qualifier Federico Delbonis of Argentina upset 14th-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8), 6-4 to make the semifinals of a tournament for the second time in his career. The fifth-seeded Monaco beat Almagro in the Hamburg semifinals last year.
He will play either top-seeded Roger Federer or Florian Mayer.
After fending off a pair of match points in the second set, Delbonis failed to serve out the match at 5-3. He then wasted two match points on Verdasco's serve before the Spaniard double-faulted on the third.
