Nadal, Puerta Advance on Dirt at Acapulco

Argentine wildcard Mariano Puerta continued his resurgent form Thursday at the ATP claycourt stop in Acapulco, following up his win over Carlos Moya with a 7-6 third-set tiebreak victory over Spaniard Felix Mantilla to gain the semifinals.

"I was not 100 percent today so I had to take a lot of risks that I am not used to," Puerta said. "I was a bit tired from yesterday since I finished quite late against Moya."

Puerta will now have his hands full in the semis against No. 8 seed Rafael Nadal, who ousted No. 3 seed Guillermo Canas in straight sets.

"I started very focused, playing to his backhand, going forward as soon as I could," Nadal said of his strategy against Canas. "It would be very important for me to play a second consecutive final, especially since I would gain a lot of points that would be very important for my ranking, and the upcoming claycourt swing that is very important to me."

Other upset winners into the semis were un-seeds Albert Montanes (d. (6) Volandri in three) and Agustin Calleri (d. (5) Novak).

"Tomorrow it is going to be difficult since Montanes is the typical Spanish player that returns every ball and moves really well," Calleri said. "I know it will be difficult but I have the extra motivation in this tournament since it would be a dream to play the final again here in Acapulco, and why not dream about the second title here in this great event."

The semifinal match-ups Friday are Montanes vs. Calleri (the Spaniard won their only previous encounter in three sets) and (8) Nadal vs. (WC) Puerta (career meetings tied 1-1).