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9/25/09 4:29 PM | Ricky Dimon
Albert Montanes crushes Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-1 on Friday afternoon in Bucharest. He is joined in the semifinals by Simon Greul, an easy straight-set winner over Maximo Gonzalez.
(5) Albert Montanes d. Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-1
Montanes destroyed Fognini in just 57 minutes on Friday to reach the semifinals of the BCR Open Romania. The No. 5 seeded started in fine form and never looked back. He lost only six points in four service games during the first set, although he did have to save two break points. Two breaks of his own were more than enough for Montanes, who abused his opponent's second serves by winning nine of those 12 points.
More of the same continued throughout the second frame of play, and again Montanes won an identical nine of 12 second-serve return points. Fognini, unseeded and ranked No. 87 in the world, put in a mere 48 percent of his first deliveries so he had little chance of consistently holding serve. Montanes, however, served at 70 percent for the match and he dropped just two service points in the entire second set. Next up for the 53rd-ranked Spaniard is countryman Santiago Ventura, a straight-set winner over Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo. Ventura had to qualify last weekend simply to get into the Bucharest main draw.
Simon Greul d. Maximo Gonzalez 6-2, 6-2
Greul kept up his impressive form of late, blasting Gonzalez in just one hour and four minutes on Friday afternoon to book his place in the BCR Open semifinals. The 28-year-old German was coming off two straight weeks on the clay-court Challenger circuit in which he reached a semifinal and then won a title. Greul also advanced one round at the U.S. Open (beat Giovanni Lapentti 11-9 in a fifth-set tiebreaker) before succumbing to eventual runner-up Roger Federer.
Gonzalez, who eased past Greul on clay at a Challenger event earlier in 2009, had little chance this time around. The 67th-ranked Argentine won only five points in his first four return games and donate his serve twice during the opening frame of play, including at 2-5. Greul then raced to a 3-0 lead in the second, but finally got broken as his opponent got back on serve at 2-3. Gonzalez, however, did not win another game the rest of the way and Greul's fifth break of the afternoon finished the match off in style. The world No. 68 will battle third-seeded Juan Monaco on Saturday for a spot in the final.
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