Tennis: Fernando Verdasco victorious in battle against David Ferrer

In the all-Spanish affair, Verdasco rallied to win 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-1 and reach his second successive final.

It was a very even contest and neither player was willing to give an inch but Ferrer seemed to have grabbed a decisive advantage when, after winning the first set on a tie-break, he took a 4-2 lead in the second.

However, Verdasco swiftly broke back and, although Ferrer managed to save four set points on his serve, the number five seed levelled.

Ferrer, who reached the final the past two years, was growing increasingly frustrated and Verdasco swiftly went 5-0 up in the third set.

The number eight seed managed to avoid losing the set to love but Verdasco served out for the match.

"My legs felt a bit heavy in the first set and I was late to a lot of balls," Verdasco said. "The more the match went on the better I felt and I carried on fighting even though I wasn't feeling great physically."

It is Verdasco's second final in a row after he was swept aside 6-0, 6-1 by Rafael Nadal last Sunday in the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters. He will meet Sweden's Robin Soderling, who beat Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker 6-1, 6-4 in the first semi-final.

Laura Robson reached the semi-finals of the $50,000 ITF event in Dothan, USA, with a three-set win over Australia's Sophie Ferguson.

The 16-year-old came through qualifying and impressed in victories against Yuliana Fedak and Madison Brengle in the opening two rounds.

Robson beat Ferguson, who is ranked 144th in the world, in the first round of qualifying at the Australian Open in January and she repeated the feat, triumphing 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

In the last four she will face Romanian fifth seed Edina Gallovits, who has been ranked as high as 54. Robson's run should lift her into the world's top 300 for the first time.

Italy's Flavia Pennetta fought back in both sets to seal a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Czech Republic's Lucie Hradecka in their Fed Cup semi-final first rubber in Rome yesterday.

Holders Italy were nervously biting their finger nails when world No.15 Pennetta went 4-1 down in the first set under grey Rome skies but the powerful Hradecka soon lost her radar and the set. Both players looked inconsistent in the second set before Pennetta secured the win when the Czech's lob went long.

Italy No.2 Francesca Schiavone was taking on Lucie Safarova in the second singles match late yesterday with the reverse singles and the doubles scheduled for today.

The United States meet Russia in the other semi-final.