HAMBURG, Germany (AP)—Third-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria beat Potito Starace of Italy 6-4, 6-1 Friday to reach the semifinals of the German Open.
Melzer will meet another Italian in the semifinals of the clay-court tournament, Andreas Seppi, who upset seventh-seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 7-6 (0), 5-7, 7-5.
Melzer was a semifinalist at the French Open and is the highest seeded player left in the field. He was a semifinalist in Hamburg in 2004, while Seppi reached the last four in 2008.
Florian Mayer upset sixth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero, beating the Spaniard for the first time in five matches to reach a semifinal for the first time this year. The lone German left in the draw rallied to win 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3.
Mayer’s semifinal opponent will be Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan, who defeated Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-1 to make his first semifinal of the season.