By Chris Oddo | Friday, April 11, 2014

 

Nicolas Almagro and Fernando Verdasco advanced to the semifinals at the U.S. Men's Clay-Court Championship in Houston.

Photo Source: AP

On a day when the American contingent still alive in the draw dwindled from three to one, a pair of Spaniards emerged as the favorites to reach the final.

Fernando Verdasco and Nicolas Almagro each moved through in straight sets at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston.

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Verdasco fought through a trying first set with Donald Young before pulling away to a 7-6(1), 6-1 victory. Young entered the event with just one career victory on clay, but he played a stellar first set until Verdasco took control in the tiebreaker.

“He played great tennis in the first set,” Verdasco said. “For me it was uncomfortable but 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.”

30-year-old Verdasco advances to his first semifinal of the season where he will meet Santiago Giraldo of Colombia. Giraldo advanced to his second semifinal of the season with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over fellow Colombian Alejandro Gonzalez. The 26-year-old improves to 10-9 on the season, but he is still in search of his first career title.

Sam Querrey kept American hopes alive by taking down fan favorite Dustin Brown in the first match of the evening session, 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-3. The two combined to pour in 25 aces, but it was Querrey who broke Brown twice, including a decisive break in the eighth game of the decider which allowed the California native to serve for the match.

>>>Video: Dustin Brown's Ridiculous Tweener in Houston<<<

Brown stayed alive in the second set and eventually won the long tiebreaker despite missing an easy volley at 6-5, thanks to a few ill-timed double-faults from Querrey.

In the final match of the evening, Nicolas Almagro and Jack Sock engaged in a testy battle that was delayed by a little harmless trash-talking in the first set, when Sock approached the net while Almagro protested a call with umpire Jake Garner. But Almagro flippantly waved Sock away, then proceeded to put him away with the steady, punishing clay-court game that has seen him rise to third among active ATP players in wins on the surface.

The 6-2, 6-4 decision is Almagro's 236th on the dirt; only Rafael Nadal (298) and David Ferrer (267) have more.