Verdasco battles through in Nice Open

Second seed Fernando Verdasco had to battle to claim his place in the semi-finals of the Open De Nice Cote D'Azur yesterday after being stretched to a final set by Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky

Second seed Fernando Verdasco had to battle to claim his place in the semi-finals of the Open De Nice Cote D'Azur yesterday after being stretched to a final set by Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky.

The big-serving Stakhovsky had the Spaniard in trouble as he aimed to move closer to his 13th career ATP final, holding his nerve in a tight second set tie-break before Verdasco struck back to win 6-2, 6-7 (7/5), 6-4. Verdasco's semi-final opponent will be Argentina's Leonardo Mayer, who pulled off a surprise 5-7 6-3 6-4 victory over fifth seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

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