06.02.2015.
Seppi battles into semifinals
It was a long day in the office on Friday at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors, as all four singles quarterfinal matches were decided in three sets. Marcos Baghdatis, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Andreas Seppi and Marcel Granollers reached the last four and will battle on Saturday for the place in the finals.
Italian Seppi (pictured) continued with good results in Zagreb, after semifinals in Doha and fourth round at the Australian Open last month. But on Friday he was pushed to the limits by Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis. After failing to serve out the match at 6-5, the Italian came back from down 1-4 in the tie-breaker.
"It was rather difficult situation. He was actually playing very good from the moment I broke for 6:5, he hit 4-5 winners and I couldn't do anything. I am a bit lucky to be through", Seppi said after winning 3:6, 6:2, 7:6 (6).
Third-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was on the way to another straight set victory, after losing only two games against Damir Dzumhur from Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday. He led 6:1, 3:1 with three break points against Viktor Troicki from Serbia, but situation suddenly changed. Troicki won the second set, then came back from 0:3 deficit in the third, but Spaniard withstood the comeback and won by 6:1, 6:7 (5), 7:5.
Garcia-Lopez, fresh from reaching round of 16 at the Australian Open last month, reached semifinals at the ATP event last time in Casablanca last April, where he won third career title. It was their fifth career meeting at ATP level, first indoors, and maiden victory for Garcia Lopez.
In the evening session Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis won the battle of former Zagreb champions by defeating Mikhail Youzhny from Russia by 3:6, 6:3, 6:4. Baghdatis, winner here in 2007, came back from one set deficit and reached his first ATP semifinals since Brisbane in 2013.
“It was a tough match. I have a problem starting matches here, like I have diesel engine. But I've found the way to win", Baghdatis said.
Cypriot came close to the victory serving at 5:2 in the decisive set. He briefly lost momentum and Youzny even had break point to level the score to 5:5 before Baghdatis found the way.
Spaniard Marcel Granollers defeated Igor Sijsling from the Netherlands by 6:4, 2:6, 6:4 and reached his first semifinal since Casablanca last year.Granollers saved five out of eight break points, with crucial one at 3:3 in the third set. Sijsling served to stay in the match at 4:5, but lost four points in a row after leading 40-15.
Italian Seppi (pictured) continued with good results in Zagreb, after semifinals in Doha and fourth round at the Australian Open last month. But on Friday he was pushed to the limits by Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis. After failing to serve out the match at 6-5, the Italian came back from down 1-4 in the tie-breaker.
"It was rather difficult situation. He was actually playing very good from the moment I broke for 6:5, he hit 4-5 winners and I couldn't do anything. I am a bit lucky to be through", Seppi said after winning 3:6, 6:2, 7:6 (6).
Third-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was on the way to another straight set victory, after losing only two games against Damir Dzumhur from Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday. He led 6:1, 3:1 with three break points against Viktor Troicki from Serbia, but situation suddenly changed. Troicki won the second set, then came back from 0:3 deficit in the third, but Spaniard withstood the comeback and won by 6:1, 6:7 (5), 7:5.
Garcia-Lopez, fresh from reaching round of 16 at the Australian Open last month, reached semifinals at the ATP event last time in Casablanca last April, where he won third career title. It was their fifth career meeting at ATP level, first indoors, and maiden victory for Garcia Lopez.
In the evening session Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis won the battle of former Zagreb champions by defeating Mikhail Youzhny from Russia by 3:6, 6:3, 6:4. Baghdatis, winner here in 2007, came back from one set deficit and reached his first ATP semifinals since Brisbane in 2013.
“It was a tough match. I have a problem starting matches here, like I have diesel engine. But I've found the way to win", Baghdatis said.
Cypriot came close to the victory serving at 5:2 in the decisive set. He briefly lost momentum and Youzny even had break point to level the score to 5:5 before Baghdatis found the way.
Spaniard Marcel Granollers defeated Igor Sijsling from the Netherlands by 6:4, 2:6, 6:4 and reached his first semifinal since Casablanca last year.Granollers saved five out of eight break points, with crucial one at 3:3 in the third set. Sijsling served to stay in the match at 4:5, but lost four points in a row after leading 40-15.