BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Defending champion David Ferrer advanced to the semifinals of the Copa Claro clay-court tournament with a 6-2, 6-1 victory Friday over Fabio Fognini of Italy.
The top-seeded Ferrer will face fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo, who beat Julian Reister of Germany 6-3, 6-2.
"It will be tough match," Ferrer said. "Each time I have played Tommy it has been a close match. I will have to play at my best to beat him."
Ferrer holds a 5-2 career edge and has won the last two. It could be all-Spanish semifinals in the Argentine capital.
Nicolas Almagro of Spain played later against Federico Delbonis of Argentina, and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland faced Albert Ramos of Spain in the other quarterfinal.
Fourth-ranked Ferrer won the Heineken Open last month in Auckland, New Zealand.
Rafael Nadal skipped this event on his Latin American tour after making his comeback from a knee injury by playing in Chile and Brazil. He'll play next week in Acapulco, Mexico.