Top seed Nicolas Lapentti has recovered from a first-set loss for the third straight time to advance to the semifinals of the Vina Del Mar tournament in Chile.

The tennis star from Ecuador dropped the first set 3-6 Friday to Flavio Saretta of Brazil before taking the next set 6-3, then winning a deciding-set tie-breaker 7-5.

Lapentti - the only seeded player still around for the semifinals - will face Chile's Nicolas Massu Saturday, while Fernando Gonzalez, also of Chile, will meet Frenchman Nicolas Coutelot in the other semifinal.

Massu downed Spain's Albert Montanes 6-3, 6-4. Gonzalez beat Jose Acasuso of Argentina 6-4, 7-6. And Coutelot got by Austria's Markus Hipfl 6-2, 6-1.

Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.

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