Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine reached the Open de Nice semifinals when he upset top-seeded David Ferrer for the first time 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 on Thursday.
Dolgopolov held his nerve in the deciding set, taking Ferrer's serve on the only chance he had to reach his third semifinal of the season - all of them on clay. He'd lost to Ferrer in their previous three matches.
An Australian Open quarterfinalist this year, Dolgopolov will next play Victor Hanescu of Romania, who advanced when Robin Haase of the Netherlands retired from their quarterfinal with a right ankle injury while trailing 6-2, 2-0.
Nicolas Almagro also reached the last four by beating fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-1, 6-4.
The third-seeded Almagro broke Andujar five times. The Spaniard moved on to face either second-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic or Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.
