David Ferrer rolled into his Rio de Janeiro quarterfinal with as much momentum as he has held since Roland Garros last spring.  After appearing in his first major final there, Ferrer had suffered a flurry of unexpected losses to journeymen from Alex Bogomolov and Joao Sousa to Daniel Brands and Yen-Hsun Lu.  But a return to clay, his favorite surface, had been just what the doctor ordered.  The Spaniard had won all 14 sets that he had played on the surface this year, including a title last week in Buenos Aires.

On paper, there was little to suggest that Thomaz Bellucci could threaten Ferrer.  Bellucci had plunged down the rankings while grappling with abdominal and hip injuries over the last two years.  Well outside the top 100 when the week began, he needed a wildcard to gain direct entry to his home tournament.  Bellucci arrived in Rio after a disastrous start to the South American clay swing.  Two weeks ago in Chile, he fell in straight sets to an opponent ranked outside the top 200.  Then, he retired from Buenos Aires qualifying a week ago.

Playing on home soil can revive even the most desperately slumping man, however.  In the first two rounds of Rio, Bellucci found just enough poise and timely shot-making to fire past two quality clay specialists, Santiago Giraldo and Juan Monaco.  He rallied from losing the first set in both matches, leaving him with everything to gain and nothing to lose when he faced Ferrer in the quarterfinals.  The Brazilian also had defeated the Spaniard in their most recent meeting at Monte Carlo in 2012.

For a set and a half, Bellucci looked likely to repeat the feat.  He pounced on Ferrer at the outset, breaking the world No. 5 in the first game of the match.  No insurance was needed for Bellucci, who saved all three of the break points that he faced in the first set.  Able to erase an early deficit in the second set, he stayed on serve until the eighth game. 

Ferrer had done just enough to stay within range to that stage as he waited for reality to catch up with the underdog.  At this critical juncture, Bellucci seemed to realize the magnitude of the upset that beckoned.  Even after he dropped a weak service game, though, he battled fiercely to earn a break point when Ferrer served for the second set.

Too solid to let the set escape him, the Spaniard warded off another break point early in the third set.  Converting that chance would have handed the momentum back to Bellucci, so Ferrer must have recognized the importance of denying it.  He also must have anticipated the deflated lull in Bellucci's game that followed.  Ferrer pounced on the lull to earn an early break before rain suspended play.  The respite did not help Bellucci, who did not threaten for the rest of the routine third set.

Running his winning streak to eight, Ferrer advanced from this 143-minute clash to a semifinal against Alexandr Dolgopolov.  The quirky Ukrainian routed Fabio Fognini earlier on Friday and will be fresher than Ferrer on Saturday.  Dolgopolov has lost seven of their eight meetings but has forced a final set in five of those seven losses.