Fernando Verdasco beat Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 7-6(3) 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 6-4. The Spaniard was not in his best form today, but he was able to get the win nonetheless. Verdasco now advances to play compatriot Albert Montanes. He currently has a 2-0 edge over Montanes.

(Image: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)

Spaniard Albert Montanes saved two match points and went on to capture the Estoril Open title. He upset fourth-seed James Blake, who pulled a double duty today, 5-7 7-6(6) 6-0 after 133 minutes of play. The title gives the 28-year-old his second career ATP title.

The championship title also gives Spain a death-grip on clay. So far this year, the Spaniards have won seven (Nadal-3, Robredo-2, Almagro-1, Montanes-1) of the nine ATP singles titles on clay.

On the doubles side, a couple of Americans won the title. Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky upset fourth-seeds Martin Damm and Robert Lindstedt 6-3 6-2. This is the pair’s first title together.

Championship Sunday
Singles Semifinals
4 James Blake (USA) def. 2 Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 6-7(3) 7-6(2) 6-3

Singles Final
7 Albert Montanes (ESP) def. 4 James Blake (USA) 5-7 7-6(6) 6-0

Doubles Final
E. Butorac (USA)/S. Lipsky (USA) def. 4 M. Damm (CZE)/R. Lindstedt (SWE) 6-3 6-2

(Image: Joao Lagos Sports)

All the seeded players advanced on the singles side in Estoril. Eighth-seed Florent Serra took care of the resurgent Juan “Spicoli” Monaco 6-3 1-6 6-3. Seventh-seed Albert Montanes defeated German Simon Gruel 6-2 6-2.

Fourth-seed James Blake has now joined Mardy Fish in winning two-consecutive matches on clay. He defeated Frenchman Marc Gicquel 7-6(6) 6-2. Blake will meet Florent Serra in the quarterfinals. They are actually 2-2 in their head-to-head matchup with Serra winning their only meeting on clay in Rome in 2006.

Top-seed Gilles Simon took care of Fabio Fognini pretty easily 6-0 7-5 after just 73 minutes of work. Simon will meet Albert Montanes in the quarterfinals. The Frenchman leads Montanes 2-0 in their head-to-head matchup, where all their meetings were on clay. Let’s hope there are no surprises tomorrow from the Frenchman.

(Image: Reuters)

Rain and wind again foiled the Roman tournament today. The rain caused delays, but most of the first round matches managed to be completed. There are three first-round matches that will be finished tomorrow. All doubles matches were cancelled for the day and moved to Wednesday.

Of the completed matches, Feliciano Lopez prevailed over Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-4 6-2. It was a good win for the Spaniard, who is 5-8 this year and has had five first-round losses. Lopez made it to the round of 16 in Barcelona last week, so maybe he has turned over a new leaf. He now awaits the winner of the Stepanek-Serra match.

One second-round match was completed. Novak Djokovic beat Albert Montanes 7-6(5) 6-0 in quite convincing fashion. The Serb will have a day off tomorrow and awaits the winner of the Robredo-Kohlschreiber match.

(Image: AP)

Qualifier Fabio Fognini, who is currently ranked number 108, rallied to upset Tomas Berdych 1-6 6-3 6-3. The 21-year-old has not advanced passed the round of 16 this year and is 6-7 as of today. He will play Marin Cilic in the next round. The two players have never met in an ATP event.

Albert Montanes upset Nicolas Almagro 7-6(6) 6-4 7-6(5). After Nadal, Almagro is probably Spain’s second best player on clay. This victory is Montanes’ second-consectutive victory over Almagro. He will play wildcard Jean-Rene Lisnard of Monaco.

In the rematch of the Buenos Aires final, Juan Monaco exacted revenge on the eleventh-seed Tommy Robredo 6-2 6-4. He will play the German troublemaker, Andreas Beck in the round of 16. The two players have never met in ATP competition. This could be an exciting match. Both players are vying for the chance to play Roger Federer, should he make it through the next two rounds.

With all of the upsets, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, David Ferrer and David Nalbandian restored some order with their victories.

In doubles, Nikolay Davydenko teamed up with Austrian doubles-specialist Oliver to beat the French duo of Gilles Simon and Jeremy Chardy 6-4 6-1. Next up for Davydenko and Marach are sixth-seeds Frystenberg and Matkowski.

Some good news for France today, Marc Gicquel and Paul-Henri Mathieu bested the doubles specialists Arnold Ker and Cuevas from South America. They will play second-seeds Nestor and Zimonjic.

After his upset in singles yesterday, Nicolas Kiefer and partner, Marin Cilic upset fifth-seeds Brunno Soares and Kevin Ullyett.

(images: AP)