Ferrer and Del Potro on course for showdown

Argentina and Spain, who go head to head in next month's Davis Cup final, also make up Saturday's semi-final cast list at the ATP Valencia Open. Spaniard and number one seed David Ferrer made light work of qualifying for the semi-finals brushing aside the challenge of 30-year-old Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4, in only 1 hour 22 minutes. World number five Ferrer grew up in Javea, less than one hour down the Costa Blanca from Spain's third city and he obviously feels at home at a tournament he won in 2010 and also in 2008 when it was an outdoor event on clay. Indeed in 2009 he did not lose here either, having to withdraw with injury, meaning his unbeaten run here now stretches to 14 matches. In Saturday's semi-final he will be up against Argentine Juan Monaco who beat Ferrer's friend and co-owner of the rights to this event Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-3. Monaco, ranked 41 in the world, triumphed in 1 hour and 36 minutes against the former world number one and also native of Valencia. The disappointment of no semi-final clash match between two local heroes is offset by the mouth watering clash between Ferrer and Monaco less than a month before a possible pairing in the Davis Cup Final to be played in Seville Dec 2-4. The other semi-final on Saturday is between Marcel Granollers and Juan Martin Del Potro. Barcelona-born Granollers, world ranked 54 and runner-up here in 2010, has again had a spectacular week and on Friday beat number three seed Gael Monfils 7-6 (14/12), 3-6, 6-4. The first set was a 65 minute marathon that Granollers took in a tie-break on the fifth opportunity after saving 3 set points against him. Monfils broke in the sixth game of the second set and went on to level the match, but the decisive set was to belong to Granollers when he broke Monfils for the fourth time when 5-4 up. Defeat for Monfils now means he must win in his home city next week in the Paris Masters, where he is a two-time runner-up, to have any chance of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London later this month. Another player with an outside chance of qualifying for London is Del Potro who must be considered one of the most in-form players in the world at the moment. Del Potro made light work on Friday of Sam Querrey of the US, beating him 6-2, 7-5, and he is yet to drop a set here in three matches. If he continues that sort of form he has a busy month coming up that could culminate in a first Argentine Davis Cup title, although David ferrer will surely have something to say before that happens.