Unseeded 19-year-old Frenchman Arthur Fils upset No. 1 seed Casper Ruud of Norway 6-0, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals of the Hamburg European Open on Friday in Germany.
Fils saved the only break point he faced while breaking Ruud’s serve four times in a stunningly simple, 78-minute win on clay, Ruud’s preferred surface. Fils won a whopping 28 of his 33 first-service points (84.8 percent).
In the semifinals, Fils will face German fourth seed German Alexander Zverev, who took care of France’s Luca Van Assche 6-3, 6-4.
Laslo Djere of Serbia outlasted Italian third seed Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the other semifinal match, where he will face China’s Zhizhen Zhang, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Germany’s Daniel Altmaier.
Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag
Seventh seed Matteo Arnaldi of Italy rallied past top-seeded Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a back-and-forth quarterfinal match in Croatia.
Lehecka held serve in the third set until the seventh game, when Arnaldi took control. Arnaldi hit eight aces and won 30 of 40 first-service points (75 percent).
He’ll face Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the semifinals. Popyrin earned a narrow 7-6 (2), 7-5 win over Croatian wild card Dino Prizmic.
The other semifinal match will pit No. 2 seed Lorenzo Sonego of Italy against No. 6 Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland. Sonego stormed back to beat Spain’s Jaume Munar 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, while Wawrinka polished off a 6-4, 7-5 win over Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena.
–Field Level Media