Fernando Verdasco eases past Pablo Carreno-Busta to reach semi-finals in Sweden

Fernando Verdasco knocked out second seed Pablo Carreno-Busta to secure a place in the semi-finals of the SkiStar Swedish Open.

Spaniard Verdasco, the fifth seed, progressed with a 6-4 6-2 win over his compatriot.

Standing in his way of a place in Sunday’s final is Fabio Fognini.

The third-seeded Italian saw off Federico Delbonis in straight sets, 6-4 6-3.

Elsewhere on Friday, Richard Gasquet, the French number four seed, ended the run of teenage wildcard Casper Ruud, who had defeated reigning champion David Ferrer in the last 16.

Gasquet progressed after a 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 victory over the 19-year-old Norweigan.

The other quarter-final saw Swiss Henri Laaksonen come from behind to defeat Italian Simone Bolelli 3-6 6-2 6-4.

At the Croatia Open in Umag, number three seed Marco Cecchinato of Italy booked his semi-final place by beating Serb Laslo Djere 6-4 6-1.

Argentine Marco Trungelliti awaits after his 6-1 6-4 win over Russian Evgeny Donskoy.

The other semi-final will be between Robin Haase, the sixth seed, and Guido Pella.

Dutchman Haase beat fourth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev 6-3 7-6 (8/6).

Argentina player Pella, the world number 72, recorded a 7-6 (7/3) 7-5 win over Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.

Meanwhile, top seed Adrian Mannarino is out of the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport after losing 6-3 6-1 to Marcel Granollers.

The Spaniard will face third seed Steve Johnson – a 6-2 6-3 winner against Dudi Sela – in the last four, with Ramkumar Ramanathan taking on Tim Smyczek in the other semi-final.