Verdasco, Andreev and Gonzales gain seminfinals at Croatia Open

Top-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain advanced to the semifinals of the Croatia Open on Friday by ousting Mischa Zverev of Germany 7-5, 7-5. Igor Andreev of Russia and Maximo Gonzales of Argentina also reached the semifinals. The fourth-seeded Andreev beat Guillermo Canas of Argentina 7-5, 6-4, and Gonzales defeated Roko Karanusic of Croatia 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Verdasco won despite trailing 1-3 in the first set and 3-5 in the second. Ranked 15th in the world, Verdasco is playing in Umag for the first time. In the semis, he will face either fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya, seeded third, or Fabio Fognini of Italy, who were playing later Friday. Asked whom he would rather meet, Verdasco said Moya, "so there'll definitely be a Spaniard in the... [read full story]