Nicolas Almagro and Juan Ignacio Chela are set to face off in a highly anticipated Brasil Open semi-final

Nicolas Almagro entered this event as the No. 1 seed, and has more than lived up to expectations so far. Following his first round bye, he’s defeated Joao Souza and Rui Machado in straight sets, and hasn’t even had to face a tie-break. Things should be a little different here, as he faces No. 5 seed and major tournament rival Juan Ignacio Chela.

Chela’s campaign hasn’t been quite so straightforward. He scraped past Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Da Silva in round one, and then took part in another tight three-setter in round two against Lukasz Kubot. That said, he produced what was perhaps the performance of the tournament in the quarters, humbling third seed Thomaz Bellucci in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. If he can maintain his quarter-finals level of play he has a great chance of winning this year’s Brasil Open.

Almagro has a 3-2 head to head record against Chela, and has won the last two meetings between the pairing. The most recent clay court matchup between Almagro and Chela took place in Barcelona back in 2009. Almagro won the match 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3.

This contest is poised to be another close one, and should be a real treat for the fans. The winner of this match will face either Alexandr Dolgopolov or Ricardo Mello in the final.