Top seed Almagro advances to semifinal in Houston

Houston, April 13 (IANS):

Top seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain defeated Paolo Lorenzi of Italy 6-4, 6-4 to book a place in the semifinal of the $455,775 ATP US Clay Court Championships here.

Following are the results Friday from the fifth day of the Houston ATP quarters (prefix number denotes seedings):

Quarterfinals:

1-Nicolas Almagro, Spain, bt 7-Paolo Lorenzi, Italy, 6-4, 6-4

Rhyne Williams, United States, bt Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, Spain, 7-6 (7/1), 1-6, 6-4

5-John Isner, United States, bt Ricardas Berankis, Lithuania, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3