American lucky loser Reilly Opelka put up an intense battle to stun top seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6(5), 7-6(5) and reach the Libema Open semi-finals in Den Bosch on Friday.
Medvedev, who on Thursday edged a first-set tiebreak against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, hit three double faults in the second-set tiebreak and five overall, compared to no such error by Opelka, who also hit 24 aces.
The 2021 US Open champion, currently ranked 11th in the world, needed to match or better Ben Shelton’s result in Stuttgart this week to return to the Top 10 on Monday.
The American, ranked 12th, will beat him to it after he overcame Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the Stuttgart semi-finals.
Former Wimbledon junior champion Opelka will contest an ATP grasscourt semi-final for the second time in his career, having reached the same stage at Newport last year.
He will face Belgium’s Zizou Bergs, who later beat Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal 7-6, 7-6, on Saturday for a spot in the final.
French second seed Ugo Humbert will play Canadian Gabriel Diallo in the other semi.
Diallo knocked out third seed Karen Khachanov 7-6(6), 6-4, while the Frenchman eliminated Portuguese Nuno Borges, seeded seventh, 6-1, 6-4.
Follow the men’s action in Den Bosch here.
Alexandrova and Mertens into semi-finals
In the women’s draw, second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova came from a set down to beat Veronika Kudermetova 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
In the semi-finals, she will face Belgian third seed Elise Mertens, who ousted China’s Yue Yuan 6-0, 6-4.
Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse upset Canadian wildcard Bianca Andreescu 6-2, 6-4 and will face Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
Follow the women’s action in Den Bosch here.
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