STOCKHOLM (AP) Third-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain reached the Stockholm Open semifinals by defeating Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-4 on Friday.
The 12th-ranked Almagro, a contender for a place in the eight-man ATP Finals, held off Hewitt in the second set. He broke the Australian wild card for 5-4 with a smash and held serve to seal the quarterfinal win.
Almagro will face either Tomas Berdych or Mikhail Youzhny.
Earlier, Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis edged Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 6-3 7-6 (7-4). The 2009 champion will face either top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Sergiy Stakhovsky on Saturday.
