Estoril Open 2006 News and Events

Carlos Moya
© Wire Image

Returning to Estoril for the first time since capturing the title four years ago, top seed David Nalbandian cruised into the semifinals Friday with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Frederico Gil.

Nalbandian needed 77 minutes to dispatch Gil, ranked No. 253 in the INDESIT Rankings.

The result means Joao Cunha-Silva remains the only Portuguese player to reach the semifinals of an ATP tournament. Cunha-Silva reached the Tel Aviv last four in 1992.

Nalbandian, the reigning Tennis Masters Cup champion, will next meet Spain’s Albert Portas on Saturday.

Portas, semifinalist in 2001, knocked out American Justin Gimelstob 6-4, 6-3.

Gimelstob was appearing in his first clay-court quarterfinal since Coral Springs, Florida, in 1998.

In the bottom half of the men’s draw, Carlos Moya continued his love affair with the Estoril Open, advancing to semifinals for the fifth time in seven visits.

The sixth-seeded wild card, champion at the Estadio Nacional in 2000, edged out fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6(4), 6-4 on Court Central.

The former World No. 1, currently ranked No. 39 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, won 31 of 40 points on first serve matching Garcia-Lopez in the ace count with three.

Moya converted three of eight break points in the one hour and 45 minute encounter, for his 20th win out of 25 matches at the Estadio Nacional.

The Spaniard will now meet No. 2 seed Nikolay Davydenko, the 2003 champion, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.