Verdasco to Mexican semifinals

Spanish tennis player Fernando Verdasco on Thursday advanced to the semifinals of the 2012 Mexican Tennis Open after beating his compatriot Nicolas Almagro 6-4 7-6 (5) in the southern Mexican port city of Acapulco. Verdasco, No. 27 in world rankings, became the first semifinalist after a match of an hour and 52 minutes and will wait for his rival, which will be contested between French Jeremy Chardy and Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. While in the women's games, the third seed Italy's Sara Errani squeezed in the semifinal by defeating Spanish Estrella Cabeza 6-4, 6-3. Errani will face the winner between Romanian Irina Begu and Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova. The Mexican Tennis Open which started on Monday in the clay courts Mextenis center at the Port of Acapulco, divided a reward of 1.4 million U.S. dollars in both categories, plus 500 points for the ATP ranking and 280 points for the WTA.