ONLY two of the tournament's top four seeds have made it through to Friday's semi-finals at the Bendigo ATP Challenger.
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It followed a dramatic fifth day at the Bendigo Tennis Centre on Thursday in which the number two seed Roberto Carballes Baena was sent packing from the event.
The Spaniard, who is ranked 80th in the world, first had to survive a tough round of 16 contest against Chilean Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera, which was left unfinished after play was suspended early on Wednesday due to thunderstorms.
Carballes Baena survived, rallying from one set down to defeat the right-handed Barrios Vera 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
A tough three-setter might have taken its toll, with the Spaniard falling to the confident American Marcos Giron 6-4, 6-2.
Seeded seventh in Bendigo, Giron put on a masterful display, nailing an incredible 81 per cent of his first serves to Carballes Baena's 55 per cent.
The 26-year-old, with a world ranking of 112, set up a semi-final showdown against Stefano Travaglia, who ended the hopes of the only remaining Australian in the singles draw, Christopher O'Connell.
The third seeded Italian won 6-4, 6-2 in a time of one hour and four minutes.
He was joined in the last four by his countryman Andrea Vavassori, who continued his impressive run during the tournament, with a victory over Bosnian Damir Dzumhur.
The closest of the quarter finals contested, Vavassori knocked out the fifth seed with a 6-4, 7-5 win.
The Italian has ridden his luck in Bendigo, following the retirement of top seeded Hungarian Marton Fucsovics from their second round match on Monday.
The 24-year-old has since posted impressive back-to-back wins and will be now battle fourth seeded Steve Johnson, with a spot in Saturday's final up for grabs.
Johnson outlasted Frenchman Harold Mayot 6-3 7-6 to ensure a pair of Americans in the semi-finals.
The doubles semi-finals have also been set with the number two seeds Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador) and Jonny O'Mara (Great Britain) to take on number three seeds Sander Arends (Netherlands) and Cheng-Peng Hsieh (Chinese Tapei).
On the other side of the draw, Ariel Behar and Matt Reid will play fellow unseeded pair Nikola Cacic and Denys Molchanov.
Following the exit of O'Connell from the singles draw, Reid is the only live hope of an Aussie win in Bendigo.
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