Two-time defending champion Pablo Cuevas looked out of it. Argentine Diego Schwartzman led the third seed 7-5, 4-1 during their Brasil Open quarter-final on Friday and was two holds away from handing Cuevas his first loss in Sao Paulo since 2014.
But the 31-year-old Cuevas kept his three-peat hopes alive with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory that lasted two hours and 13 minutes, finishing after 1 a.m. in Sao Paulo.
In Saturday's semi-final, Cuevas will meet top seed Pablo Carreno Busta, who fought off a late comeback from Italian Fabio Fognini to win 6-0, 7-6(1) and continue his stellar stretch on the Brazilian clay. Carreno Busta broke Fognini three times to take the first set in 20 minutes, but the Spaniard was broken for the first time when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set.
Carreno Busta, a 2016 finalist, recovered in the tie-break to take the semi-final in one hour and 12 minutes. The 25-year-old right-hander will try to reach back-to-back ATP World Tour finals on Saturday. He fell in the Rio Open presented by Claro title match last week against Dominic Thiem.
Second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas returned to the semi-finals with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory against Argentine Guido Pella. Ramos-Vinolas won 75 per cent of his first-serve points and broke twice in the third set to clinch the final eight win.
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The left-hander, who also reached the last four in Sao Paulo in 2012, will meet fourth seed Joao Sousa in the semi-finals on Saturday. Sousa advanced past seventh seed and 2014 champion Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-1 in 59 minutes.
The Portuguese right-hander lost only eight points on his serve (32/40), won all four break points and never faced a break point. Sousa now leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 3-2.