Top seeded David Ferrer defeated Thomaz Bellucci and has setup an Erste Bank Open Finals rematch against wild card entry Andy Murray at the semifinals of the Valencia Open 500 in Spain on Friday.

Three-time former tournament champion Ferrer did not waste any time in disposing qualifier Bellucci as he broke the Brazilian twice in both sets and saved all break points he faced to win the match 6-1 6-2 that lasted just 67 minutes.

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The win is Ferrer's 600^th tour-level win, placing him fourth in the active players list with Roger Federer leading the way recording 986 wins.

The 32-year-old Spaniard will face third seeded Murray in the semifinals who had a difficult quarterfinals matchup against seventh seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa.

Britain's No. 1 Murray had a couple of exchange breaks against Anderson in the first set that ultimately led to a tie-break where the South African edged out the Shenzhen Open champion 7-3 but the Scot was able to hold his serve a bit more effectively than Anderson as Murray broke him twice to level the match.

In the third set, Murray had the upper advantage as he made 87 percent of his first serves compared to 67 percent of Anderson which led to his downfall as Murray broke Anderson mid-way to serve out for the match 6(3)-7(7) 6-4 6-4 that lasted two hours and 44 minutes.

"It was very tough. There were a lot of long games, long rallies," Murray said. "I started to read his serve a little bit better at the end of the second set. I was creating a lot of chances on his service games. I just managed to get through."

Rafael Nadal announced earlier that he will be undergoing surgery on Nov. 3 to remove his appendix and withdrew from the two remaining tournaments of the year.

This is good news for Ferrer who is currently in 9^th place in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London. If he holds to that position after the BNP Paribas Masters, he will move on to the prestigious event.

TagsDavid Ferrer, andy murray, Roger Federer, rafael nadal