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Montanes puts out top seed in Casablanca

Albert Montanes upset top-seeded Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 7-6 (5), 6-3 on Friday to reach the semi-finals at the Grand Prix Hassan II and stay on course for his first career title.

The Spaniard, who has lost in three career ATP finals, next plays compatriot Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo.

Ramirez Hidalgo outlasted France's Sebastien Grosjean 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3) and is now one win away from his first singles final.

Also, Paul-Henri Mathieu upset second-seeded Jose Acasuso 7-6 (5),6-4.

The eighth-seeded Frenchman broke Acasuso four times in the match. He won 61 percent of second-serve points compared to 42 percent for his Argentine opponent.

Mathieu will next play fifth-seeded Marc Gicquel of France, who rallied to beat No. 3 Julien Benneteau 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Dulko reaches semis

Sixth-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina defeated Olga Savchuk of Ukraine 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to advance to the semi-finals of the Gaz de France Budapest Grand Prix.

Dulko, the only seeded player remaining in the tournament, was due to face Agnes Szavay of Hungary yesterday.

Szavay advanced after fourth-seeded Emilie Loit of France withdrew from the quarter-final match with gastrointestinal problems.

Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Karin Knapp of Italy meet in the other semi-final.

Cirstea, who had to qualify for the main draw and is only ranked 10 in Romania and 325 in the world, upset fifth-seeded Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

The Romanian took a 2-0 lead in the final set but Daniilidou fought back to 3-3, before another service break by Cirstea decided the match.

In the last match of the day, Knapp downed Luxembourg's top player, Anne Kremer, in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1.
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