Friday review by Goran Ivanišević
Gael Monfils showed again how great it is for tennis to have such a king! In the best match of the tournament so far, he returned from the dead after being behind a set and 2-5 in the tie-break, turning the match into a victory against the formidable Philipp Kohlschreiber. What this man can do on the court is quite unreal and we can't wait for the big match against Dominic Thiem.
The other major news is the defeat of Borna Ćorić. We have to be honest and say that Borna did not play a good match. Although he was not playing best against Bedene, yesterday his tennis was even more modest. You could see that he was not feeling well, the ball was spinning in all directions, he was not relaxed at the service... He wanted to play aggressive, but he made too many mistakes. He had his opportunities, break points to get back into the first set, some half-opportunities in the second, but this was not the real Borna. To such kind of matches we have to get used to because, despite his extraordinary talent and quality, we will see them from time to time.
On the other hand, we have to compliment Bautista Agut. Although at first it does not seem so because he has a somewhat unusual technique but he is a very inconvenient opponent on all surfaces. He is moving great, forcing his opponents to a lot of changes. He showed us why he is on the brink of entering the Top 20.
If Bautista saddened the domestic fans, Joao Sousa certainly did not embellished the evening for Italian visitors. Fabio Fognini had a game point in the tie-break of the third set, but in the eighth consecutive attempt in Umag, he did not win the title. Sousa is very inconvenient and even after the Davis Cup weekend he is winning matches. After easily beating Seppi, Fognini had also to go home.
Andreas Haider-Maurer did not survive against Dominic Thiem, who looks really good. I do not know if you are a fan of his peculiar hair style, but his tennis is hard to dislike. Therefore the second semi-final tomorrow will be a real treat...
