Semifinal is set: Gael Monfils versus Fabio Fognini and Tommy
Robredo versus Andreas Seppi! Great matches are in prospect on
Saturday at Vegeta Croatia Open, not only considering the ATP
rankings, but also the quality of matches seen this week.
Monfils earne his place by defeating Spaniard Albert Montanes
after 2 hours 16 minutes battle. Frenchman won by 6:2, 5:7, 7:5,
but match might have been finished in straight sets, as Monfils led
6:2, 5:3. Montanes fought back, reached the third set, but it was
Monfils who prevailed and got revenge for Nice final in
April.
"I got a bit tight when I served for the match at 5:4 in the
second set. I should have been more agressive. I am very pleased
with this victory, I never beat Albert on clay before. It was good
clay court match, I could have served better and surely it might be
improved tommorrow", Monfils said.
Fognini recorded 12th consecutive singles victory and is now just
two wins away from third consecutive title. After winning in
Stuttgart and Hamburg he continued to play excellent tennis in
Umag, defeating sixth-seeded Slovakian Martin Klizan by 6:4,
6:2.
"I played much better than on the first day, I felt great. I
won two tournaments in a row, now I am in semifinals here... Early
clay season was good for me, but summer is just like a dream. My
game really works good at the moment. Still, Top 10 is not my goal
now, it is a long road. I just entered Top 20," Fognini
said.
Andreas Seppi had some unusual way to the semifinals. After having
bye in the first round, as one of four top seeded players, he won
two matches by retirement of his opponents. Austrian Haider-Maurer
gave up in the second round trailing 1:6, 0:4 and Argentinean
Horacio Zeballos retired trailing 5:6, 0-40 due to intercostal
injury. But it was not easy job for Seppi, who saved two set points
at 4:5.
Tommy Robredo recorded another straight sets victory and in three
matches now he lost only 13 games in total. On Friday he defeated
Aljaz Bedene from Slovenia by 6:1, 6:4 and reached his first
semifinal in Umag. His previous best was quarters, in 2005.
Semifinal is set: Gael Monfils versus Fabio Fognini and Tommy Robredo versus Andreas Seppi! Great matches are in prospect on Saturday at Vegeta Croatia Open, not only considering the ATP rankings, but also the quality of matches seen this week.