Spanish No 1 Rafael Nadal reached the semifinals of the Brazil Open late on Friday, with an unusual three-set win over Carlos Berlocq of Argentina.
The 26-year-old Spaniard, ranked number five in the world, got through his singles quarterfinal match 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in just two hours 24 minutes against the 30-year old Argentine, ranked 78th in the world.
Nadal will now have to face in Saturday's semifinal another Argentine, Martin Alund, who earlier Friday defeated Filippo Volandri of Italy 7-5, 7-6.
In another quarter-final earlier Friday, Argentine David Nalbandian beat Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, the winner of the Brazil Open last year.
Nalbandian will have to play against Italian Simone Bolelli Saturday's other semifinal who ousted Argentine Juan Monaco.
Berlocq maintained lead in the first set, breaking Nadal's serve twice before prevailing 6-3, and serving several aces during the match.
But the Spaniard, who received the tremendous support from the crowd at Sao Paulo's Ibirapuera gymnasium, later said he never thought of getting away with the contest.
"I was able to be solid with my serves and take advantage of the fact that he (Berlocq) did not return well," he said.
Nadal, who is recuperating from a knee injury, at times seemed a bit nervous but used powerful serves and brilliant drop shots to tame his opponent.
"For me every victory is important. It is the moment to have the necessary humility to fight in every match as I did today," he said.
"It's the first match I win in three sets here. It helps me get better physically, It helps me regain my self-confidence," Nadal added.
The Spanish player is the top seed in this $455,775 tournament, his second comeback event after a seven-month absence.
It was only last week that he was pitted against the Vina del Mar Open in Chile, losing the singles and doubles finals Sunday.
Nadal has already seven of his 11 Grand Slam titles on the clay courts of Roland Garros under his belt. He emerged victorious in the Brazil Open in 2005, when it was held in Costa do Sauipe in eastern Bahia state.
Last year, the tournament was moved to Sao Paulo. Irrespective of the venue, the crowds attend in large numbers to the events to ensure that it is a big success throughout. The participation of the caliber of Nadal will make it even more popular.
Ardent fans were cheering him right from the start hoping for a positive result for him. It was clearly that people wanted him back to the helm back once again.
The Brazil Open is part of the Latin American clay court circuit, along with the Vina del Mar event and the Mexico Open, in Acapulco, where Nadal plans to play later this month.
Nadal enjoys a scintillating flow in this circuit, which is evident with the top form he displayed even in the last match though he just got back with a knee injury.
The three low-profile Latin American events are routinely ignored by the world's top three players: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray.
