Robredo Defeats Santiago Giraldo to Reach Men’s Final at Shenzhen Open

Tommy Robredo is back in an ATP World Tour final…

The 32-year-old Spanish tennis player defeated Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the final of the Shenzhen Open.

Tommy Robredo

Robredo had 10 aces and converted four of his seven break points to beat Giraldo in 70 minutes.

The victory saw Robredo level his head-to-head series with Giraldo at 2-2.

Additionally, he has a 35-20 record on the season and will contest his second final this year, having finished runner-up on clay at the Croatia Open in July after losing to Pablo Cuevas in the final.

He’ll next face Andy Murray in Sunday’s final as he looks to level their head-to-head record. Murray has a 3-2 record over Robredo and has won their past three meetings.

Robredo will be contesting his 21st ATP World Tour final. He has a 12-8 finals record.

He’s looking to win his first title since victory in Umag in July 2013 and his first hard-court title since triumphing in Metz seven years ago.

Robredo also inched ever closer to his 500th tour-level win (493-310 record).

Giraldo Advances to the Third Round at Wimbledon

It may have taken two days and five sets, but Santiago Giraldo is still alive at Wimbledon.

The 26-year-old Colombian tennis player defeated Spain’s Marcel Granollers, the No. 30 seed, 4-6, 7-6, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the second round on Friday.

Santiago Giraldo

The hard-fought match was played over two days due to weather delays at the All England Club, and Giraldo had to go deep into a fifth set to clinch the win and match his best showing at a Grand Slam tournament. He previously reached the third round at the 2012 French Open.

Giraldo, currently ranked No. 35 in the world, will next face a stiff challenge from former World No. 1 Roger Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam winner with seven Wimbledon titles.

Ahead of Saturday’s clash Federer holds a 1-0 head to head record against Giraldo, after a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 win at the 2011 US Open.

Giraldo Overwhelms Andy Murray to Reach the Madrid Open Quarterfinals

It took a few attempts, but Santiago Giraldo has finally beaten a top-10 player… And, he’s registered back-to-back wins against two big name players in tennis in the process.

Following his second-round upset win over World No. 13 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round, the 26-year-old Colombian tenista slaughtered Andy Murray on Thursday in the third round at the ATP Mutua Madrid Open.

Santiago Giraldo

The Wimbledon champion was simply overwhelmed by Giraldo, who is currently ranked No. 46 in the world.

Giraldo beat Murray 6-3, 6-2 in a mere 70 minutes.

Murray’s play was erratic throughout the match against the Colombian qualifier, who earned his first career victory against a top-10 player in 20 attempts.

“He played very well from start to finish,” Murray said. “Towards the end I didn’t put enough pressure on him to force him to make errors. He dictated most of the points and deserved to win. I didn’t envisage the match finishing like that.”

Giraldo will next face Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarterfinals.

Giraldo Upsets Nicolas Almagro to Reach Barcelona Open Final

Santiago Giraldo is one step closer to earning his first career ATP title…

The 26-year-old Colombian professional tennis player, currently ranked No. 65 in the world, beat Spain’s Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the Barcelona Open final.

Santiago Giraldo

Giraldo will face fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori after the Japanese player beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-2, 6-4 in the other semifinal on the red outdoor clay.

Almagro slumped to his first loss in six meetings with Giraldo, a day after one of his biggest wins when he upset eight-time winner Rafael Nadal at the Real Club de Tenis.

“Yesterday’s game doesn’t serve as an excuse,” Almagro said. “Giraldo grazed perfection today, above all in the first set, and I couldn’t find the answer.”

The unseeded Giraldo will be playing for his first career title on Sunday after he saved six of seven break points and finished the match with an emphatic ace.

“I have always dreamed of reaching the top spots of the ATP ranking and tomorrow is a first step,” Giraldo said. “But I am staying calm. I will keep to my routine and tomorrow will be a day to enjoy and play the best tennis I can.”

Giraldo prevailed in a match that featured several long rallies by proving more precise with his long groundstrokes.

The first set was heading for a tiebreaker until Giraldo snatched it away by breaking Almagro’s last service game when he swatted a forehand return by the feet of the last year’s finalist.

Almagro got an early break in the second set, but Giraldo won it right back and took control as Almagro’s nerves frayed with the match slipping away.

“He believed more in his tennis, in how he had to play, and he barely made any mistakes,” Almagro said. “I committed errors when I could have gone in front. That was the key.”

Almagro Beats Rafael Nadal for the First Time to Reach Barcelona Open Semifinals

For the first time in his career, Nicolas Almagro has taken down Rafael Nadal

The 28-year-old Spanish professional tennis player beat his compatriot on Friday in a hard-fought, three-set quarterfinal match at the Barcelona Open, ending the World No. 1’s 41-match winning streak at the tournament.

Nicolas Almagro

Nadal was looking for his ninth title in Barcelona but lost a week after going out in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters to David Ferrer.

Nadal, widely considered the greatest clay-court player of all time, hadn’t lost in Barcelona since his debut as a 15-year-old in 2003, although he missed the tournament in 2010. He had not dropped a set here since the 2008 final.

Almagro, ranked No. 20 in the world, converted his second match point, smashing a forehand down the line for his first career victory over Nadal on the 11th try.

“I had a lot of opportunities in the second set,” Nadal said. “I didn’t take advantage of break points, so credit goes to him.”

After failing to convert any of his five break points in the second set, Nadal missed a return in the tiebreaker to give Almagro a 6-5 lead. Almagro followed up with a crosscourt forehand winner to level the match and end Nadal’s streak of 44 straight sets at the tournament.

Both players were steady on serve until an exchange of breaks made it 4-4 in the third, and Nadal then sent a shot long to be broken again and give Almagro a chance to serve for the match.

Nadal set up two straight chances to break back, but hit a forehand long and then sent a smash into the net with Almagro out of position.

Nadal then saved the first match point when Almagro’s backhand flew wide. But Almagro used a serve-and-volley to save a third break point of the game before Nadal’s long return set up the second match point.

“This is an important win for my career,” said Almagro, who celebrated wildly. Almagro will face Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo in Saturday’s semifinals after Philipp Kohlschreiber retired with an injury while trailing 6-4, 4-3.

Giraldo Beats Second-Seed Tommy Robredo to Reach the Quarters at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship

Santiago Giraldo is making a strong run for the title at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship

The 26-year-old Colombian tennis player upset second-seeded Tommy Robredo on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship.

Santiago Giraldo

Giraldo defeated his Spanish opponent in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

It’s the second quarterfinals appearance this year for Giraldo, currently ranked No. 89 in the world, in nine tournaments. His best showing in 2014 was a semifinal appearance at Vina del Mar tournament, where he lost to Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-7(2), 3-6.

He’ll next face Alejandro Gonzalez on Friday at River Oaks Country Club. Gonzalez advanced when fifth-seeded Feliciano Lopez retired because of severe allergies. Gonzalez led 6-3, 2-0.

Bellucci Defeats Santiago Giraldo to Advance in the Brazil Open

He may be playing on a wild card at the Brazil Open… But Thomaz Bellucci is proving he’s worth the spot.

The 26-year-old Brazilian tennis player pulled off an upset win over Santiago Giraldo, defeating the Colombian – the tournament’s eight seed – 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round of the Brazil Open.

Thomaz Bellucci

The home-crowd favorite broke Giraldo’s serve to go up 4-2 in the final set, then held on to close out the match in just over two hours at the Ibirapuera arena. The break came right after Giraldo called for treatment on his lower back in between games.

Belluci, ranked No. 108 in the world, had six aces, including three in the decisive set.

“I couldn’t hold on to a 3-0 lead in the first set but I started playing better after that,” Bellucci said. “It makes a big difference to be playing at home with the support of the fans. They got behind me and I got to play more aggressively toward the end. It made a huge difference.”

Bellucci beat Giraldo in three sets last week at the Rio Open. He’ll next face Austria’s Andreas Haider-Maurer in the second round.

But Belluci isn’t the only Latino playing well in the tournament…

Earlier Tuesday, Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva defeated sixth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in 2 hours, 17 minutes. Albert Montanes of Spain beat Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia 6-2, 6-2, while Federico Delbonis of Argentina defeated Filippo Volandri of Italy 6-1, 6-2.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal is not playing at the clay-court tournament this year. He won the Rio Open last week.

Second-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain will play Delbonis, while third-seeded Marcel Granollers plays Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

Argentina’s Juan Monaco, who had a bye in the first round along with the other top seeds, debuts against countrymen Guido Pella.

Falla Defeats Top Seed to Reach Claro Open Colombia Semifinals

Alejandro Falla is living up to his “hometown hero” designation…

The 29-year-old Colombian tennis pro defeated top-seated Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Friday night to advance to the Claro Open Colombia semifinals in his native country.

Alejandro Falla

Falla, a Bogota resident, is seeking his first ATP Tour title

Falla will next face Canada’s Vasek Pospisil on Saturday in the hard-court tournament at Centro de Alto Rendimiento. Pospisil beat Italy’s Matteo Viola 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Falla, currently ranked No. 122 in the world, has yet to reach the finals in a tournament. He’s now just one win away from doing so, and on his home turf no less.

In the afternoon quarterfinals, second-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa beat sixth-seeded Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-3, 6-3, and Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic topped fifth-seeded Adrian Mannarino of France 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3).