SAO PAULO - Qualifier Luca Vanni of Italy defeated Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) to advance to the semifinals of the Brazil Open on Friday.

The 149th-ranked Vanni served 10 aces to clinch the win at the clay-court tournament and reach his first career ATP semifinal. He will play the winner between fourth-seeded Leonardo Mayer of Argentina and home-crowd favourite Joao Souza of Brazil.

In the other quarterfinals, fifth-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay faces three-time champion Nicolas Almagro of Spain, while third-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy plays sixth-seeded Santiago Giraldo of Colombia.