Summary Verdasco next faces Santiago Giraldo, who defeated Alejandro Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4 in an all-Colombian c
HOUSTON (AFP) - Fernando Verdasco booked his first ATP semi-final of 2014 on Friday, powering home to beat Donald Young 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 in the US Men s Clay Court Championship.
The fourth-seeded Spanish veteran admitted Young s solid play had him feeling "uncomfortable" in the opening set, but once he d pocketed the tiebreaker he was on his way.
"He played great tennis in the first set," Verdasco said. "I kept fighting and he didn t serve well in the game I broke him. After that he started missing a little more, including in the tie-break. After I won the tie-break I took extra confidence and started to be more stable on the court."
Verdasco next faces Santiago Giraldo, who defeated Alejandro Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4 in an all-Colombian clash.
The 26-year-old Giraldo will be playing the fifth ATP semi-final of his career and his second in 2014. He fell to Leonardo Mayer in the semis at Vina del Mar earlier this year.
Third-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro also advanced, downing American Jack Sock 6-2, 6-4.
Almagro will face American Sam Querrey, who fired 15 aces and saved all four break-points he faced in a 6-3, 6-7 (8/10), 6-3, victory over Germany s Dustin Brown.
Querrey, a former world number 17, is in the final four in Houston for the second time. He finished runner-up in 2010.
"You have to be ready for anything," Querrey said of Brown s varied game. "He might come in, he might stay back, he might serve and volley, slice a forehand, drop shot. You have to expect everything and not get frustrated when he wins points."
Almagro will be trying to improve on his runner-up finish in Houston last year, when he lost to American John Isner in the final.
