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Friday's results in Challenger Tour: Youngsters Rublev, Mmoh and Ymer all reach semi-final,
Tennis - Dustin Brown suffered a surprisingly easy loss in Orleans to Norbert Gombos, while Robin Haase looks strong in Rome
* Orleans, France, €106,500+H (Indoor Hard) :
Playing in his first Challenger event since Cherbourg in February, Pierre-Hugues Herbert remains the only seed in the last 4, after edging another good indoor player, Ruben Bemelmans, by 7-6 7-6. There were no breaks of serve in the entire match that lasted 2 hours and 3 minutes, Ruben saved 8 break points and Pierre-Hugues 4 to stay engaged in a fearsome battle that only lacked the third set, and we could easily get it, as Bemelmans wasted 2 set points in the second set tie break. Belgian was the better player in the opening set, losing only two points on the first serve and facing no break points or deuces in his service games. 3 games on Herbert's serve went to deuce, with 2 break points for Bemelmans in game 5, but the Frenchman kept his serve and won the tie break 7-3 for an important lead.
This gave him momentum and he was holding with more ease, saving 2 break points in game 4. On the other hand, Bemelmans failed to produce the performance from the opening set, as Herbert read his serve more efficiently, creating 8 break points but not being able to convert any of them. Ruben somehow managed to stay unbroken in games 5 and 7, saving 3 and 4 break points respectively, and in the last 5 games, both players were solid in their service games to set up another tie break. It was much closer than the first one, Bemelmans was 5-3 in front and he had 2 set points at 7-6 and 9-8, but it wasn't to be for him, as Herbert converted his 4th match point to grab the tie break 12-10 and seal the victory.
Another player who had a lot of success on fast indoor Challengers, Daniel Brands, came to Orleans with 3-match losing streak in Challengers, but he will play in his first semi-final since Marburg after a 6-2 3-6 6-4 triumph against young Russian Daniil Medvedev. It was a very close match, with Brands winning just 3 points more in the end, playing better on his second serve and saving 5 out of 7 break points. Medvedev faced 9 break points and he lost his serve 4 times, losing his focus in the closing stages of the match. Brands was the dominant figure in the opening set, grabbing the final 5 games of the set, including 2 breaks of serve, taking almost 50% of the return points.
Medvedev responded with a steady performance in set number 2, losing just 5 points on serve and breaking Brands in game 4 for a 3-1 lead, which he kept until the end, setting up the decider. Brands' second serve made the difference in the final set, he converted his 4th break point in the 8th game to jump 5-3 in front, serving for the match in the following game, but Medvedev pulled the break back to cut the deficit to 5-4 and prolong the match. Instead of taking the most from this break, Daniil lost his serve in game 10, at 15, to lose all hopes for a positive result.
Andrey Rublev, another promising Russian, failed to qualify for the main draw, but he got in as the lucky loser in the end, using that second chance to advance to his first Challenger semi-final since Quimper in February (he was also a qualifier). Rublev came from behind to topple Marco Chiudinelli 3-6 6-2 6-3 in an hour and 46 minutes, defending his service games strongly and prevailing in the crucial points. Both players had 6 break points, Marco converted 2 and Andrey 4, enough to be victorious in the end and collect some much needing points. In the first set, Russian struggled to find the first serve and Chiudinelli made a good hand of it, breaking Rublev in games 2 and 8 to win the opener 6-3.
Rublev went back on the track with a break in game 7, but he couldn't keep up the same tempo. Andrey showed all his qualities in set number 2, losing only 4 points on serve and winning the last 4 games of the set to take it by 6-2 and send the match into a deciding set. His ball-striking abilities were too much for Chidinelli to handle, especially after another break at the start of the final set. Rublev has now won 7 games in a row and this 3-0 lead was sufficient to wrap up the victory and reach the last 4, as there were no more breaks of serve until the end of the match.
In what should have been one of the best matches of the day, tall Slovak Norbert Gombos used all of his strength to dismantle the second seed Dustin Brown 6-2 6-0 in just 45 minutes! This will be the 3rd Challenger semi-final for Gombos in his last 4 events, as he stayed in contention for the second indoor Challenger title. It was all about Gombos in this match, he served at 72% and never faced a break point, while Brwon landed only 53% of the first serve in. That caused a lot of troubles to the German, who lost almost 60% of the points on his serve, which sounds unbelievable considering this was an indoor hard tournament, and he lost his serve 5 times from 10 opportunities that Gombos created!
This was the biggest Challenger loss for Dreddy since Eckental last year (played on indoor carpet) and interestingly, he suffered his first bagel on this level exactly since Orleans 3 years ago, when Stepanek defeated him 6-1 6-0. Norbert broke him already in the second game and that set the tone for the whole match. From 4-2 in the opening set, Gombos has won 8 games in a row, breaking Brown 4 times in a row to close this strange match in just 45 minutes, emphasizing his high aspirations here if he continues to play like this.
Quarter-final results:
[7]Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) vs Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) 7-6(3) 7-6(10) [2:03]
Daniel Brands (GER) vs Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 6-2 3-6 6-4 [1:41]
[LL]Andrey Rublev (RUS) vs Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 3-6 6-2 6-3 [1:46]
Norbert Gombos (SVK) vs [2]Dustin Brown (GER) 6-2 6-0 [45]
* Tiburon, USA, $100,000 (Outdoor Hard):
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Quarter-final results:
Darian King (BAR) vs [5]Dennis Novikov (USA) 7-5 6-2 [1:21]
[WC]Mackenzie McDonald (USA) vs [4]Frances Tiafoe (USA) 3-6 7-6(5) 7-5 [2:21]
[3]Tim Smyczek (USA) vs Mitchell Krueger (USA) 6-2 6-4 [1:15]
[Q]Michael Mmoh (USA) vs [2]Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) 6-0 7-5 [1:25]
* Medellin, Colombia, $50,000+H (Outdoor Clay) :
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Semi-final results:
Caio Zampieri (BRA) vs [3]Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA) 3-6 7-6(8) 6-2 [2:02]
[2]Facundo Bagnis (ARG) vs [5]Joao Souza (BRA) 5-7 6-2 6-2 [2:00]
* Rome 2, Italy, €42,500+H (Outdoor Clay) :
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Quarter-final results:
[1]Robin Haase (NED) vs [5]Andrej Martin (SVK) 6-1 6-3 [1:08]
Tristan Lamasine (FRA) vs Elias Ymer (SWE) 2-6 6-2 6-3 [2:01]
Jan Satral (CZE) vs [3]Aljaz Bedene (GBR) 6-4 6-4 [1:27]
[Q]Mikael Ymer (SWE) vs [8]Marton Fucsovics (HUN) [2:56]
Tennis - Dustin Brown suffered a surprisingly easy loss in Orleans to Norbert Gombos, while Robin Haase looks strong in Rome
* Orleans, France, €106,500+H (Indoor Hard) :
Playing in his first Challenger event since Cherbourg in February, Pierre-Hugues Herbert remains the only seed in the last 4, after edging another good indoor player, Ruben Bemelmans, by 7-6 7-6. There were no breaks of serve in the entire match that lasted 2 hours and 3 minutes, Ruben saved 8 break points and Pierre-Hugues 4 to stay engaged in a fearsome battle that only lacked the third set, and we could easily get it, as Bemelmans wasted 2 set points in the second set tie break. Belgian was the better player in the opening set, losing only two points on the first serve and facing no break points or deuces in his service games. 3 games on Herbert's serve went to deuce, with 2 break points for Bemelmans in game 5, but the Frenchman kept his serve and won the tie break 7-3 for an important lead.
This gave him momentum and he was holding with more ease, saving 2 break points in game 4. On the other hand, Bemelmans failed to produce the performance from the opening set, as Herbert read his serve more efficiently, creating 8 break points but not being able to convert any of them. Ruben somehow managed to stay unbroken in games 5 and 7, saving 3 and 4 break points respectively, and in the last 5 games, both players were solid in their service games to set up another tie break. It was much closer than the first one, Bemelmans was 5-3 in front and he had 2 set points at 7-6 and 9-8, but it wasn't to be for him, as Herbert converted his 4th match point to grab the tie break 12-10 and seal the victory.
Another player who had a lot of success on fast indoor Challengers, Daniel Brands, came to Orleans with 3-match losing streak in Challengers, but he will play in his first semi-final since Marburg after a 6-2 3-6 6-4 triumph against young Russian Daniil Medvedev. It was a very close match, with Brands winning just 3 points more in the end, playing better on his second serve and saving 5 out of 7 break points. Medvedev faced 9 break points and he lost his serve 4 times, losing his focus in the closing stages of the match. Brands was the dominant figure in the opening set, grabbing the final 5 games of the set, including 2 breaks of serve, taking almost 50% of the return points.
Medvedev responded with a steady performance in set number 2, losing just 5 points on serve and breaking Brands in game 4 for a 3-1 lead, which he kept until the end, setting up the decider. Brands' second serve made the difference in the final set, he converted his 4th break point in the 8th game to jump 5-3 in front, serving for the match in the following game, but Medvedev pulled the break back to cut the deficit to 5-4 and prolong the match. Instead of taking the most from this break, Daniil lost his serve in game 10, at 15, to lose all hopes for a positive result.
Andrey Rublev, another promising Russian, failed to qualify for the main draw, but he got in as the lucky loser in the end, using that second chance to advance to his first Challenger semi-final since Quimper in February (he was also a qualifier). Rublev came from behind to topple Marco Chiudinelli 3-6 6-2 6-3 in an hour and 46 minutes, defending his service games strongly and prevailing in the crucial points. Both players had 6 break points, Marco converted 2 and Andrey 4, enough to be victorious in the end and collect some much needing points. In the first set, Russian struggled to find the first serve and Chiudinelli made a good hand of it, breaking Rublev in games 2 and 8 to win the opener 6-3.
Rublev went back on the track with a break in game 7, but he couldn't keep up the same tempo. Andrey showed all his qualities in set number 2, losing only 4 points on serve and winning the last 4 games of the set to take it by 6-2 and send the match into a deciding set. His ball-striking abilities were too much for Chidinelli to handle, especially after another break at the start of the final set. Rublev has now won 7 games in a row and this 3-0 lead was sufficient to wrap up the victory and reach the last 4, as there were no more breaks of serve until the end of the match.
In what should have been one of the best matches of the day, tall Slovak Norbert Gombos used all of his strength to dismantle the second seed Dustin Brown 6-2 6-0 in just 45 minutes! This will be the 3rd Challenger semi-final for Gombos in his last 4 events, as he stayed in contention for the second indoor Challenger title. It was all about Gombos in this match, he served at 72% and never faced a break point, while Brwon landed only 53% of the first serve in. That caused a lot of troubles to the German, who lost almost 60% of the points on his serve, which sounds unbelievable considering this was an indoor hard tournament, and he lost his serve 5 times from 10 opportunities that Gombos created!
This was the biggest Challenger loss for Dreddy since Eckental last year (played on indoor carpet) and interestingly, he suffered his first bagel on this level exactly since Orleans 3 years ago, when Stepanek defeated him 6-1 6-0. Norbert broke him already in the second game and that set the tone for the whole match. From 4-2 in the opening set, Gombos has won 8 games in a row, breaking Brown 4 times in a row to close this strange match in just 45 minutes, emphasizing his high aspirations here if he continues to play like this.
Quarter-final results:
[7]Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) vs Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) 7-6(3) 7-6(10) [2:03]
Daniel Brands (GER) vs Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 6-2 3-6 6-4 [1:41]
[LL]Andrey Rublev (RUS) vs Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 3-6 6-2 6-3 [1:46]
Norbert Gombos (SVK) vs [2]Dustin Brown (GER) 6-2 6-0 [45]
* Tiburon, USA, $100,000 (Outdoor Hard):
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Quarter-final results:
Darian King (BAR) vs [5]Dennis Novikov (USA) 7-5 6-2 [1:21]
[WC]Mackenzie McDonald (USA) vs [4]Frances Tiafoe (USA) 3-6 7-6(5) 7-5 [2:21]
[3]Tim Smyczek (USA) vs Mitchell Krueger (USA) 6-2 6-4 [1:15]
[Q]Michael Mmoh (USA) vs [2]Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) 6-0 7-5 [1:25]
* Medellin, Colombia, $50,000+H (Outdoor Clay) :
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Semi-final results:
Caio Zampieri (BRA) vs [3]Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA) 3-6 7-6(8) 6-2 [2:02]
[2]Facundo Bagnis (ARG) vs [5]Joao Souza (BRA) 5-7 6-2 6-2 [2:00]
* Rome 2, Italy, €42,500+H (Outdoor Clay) :
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Quarter-final results:
[1]Robin Haase (NED) vs [5]Andrej Martin (SVK) 6-1 6-3 [1:08]
Tristan Lamasine (FRA) vs Elias Ymer (SWE) 2-6 6-2 6-3 [2:01]
Jan Satral (CZE) vs [3]Aljaz Bedene (GBR) 6-4 6-4 [1:27]
[Q]Mikael Ymer (SWE) vs [8]Marton Fucsovics (HUN) [2:56]
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