Sportsnaut
Sixth-seeded J.J. Wolf upset second-seeded Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an all-U.S. quarterfinal match at the Dallas Open on Friday.
In another all-American matchup, top-seeded Taylor Fritz got past seventh-seeded Marcos Giron 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3.
Wolf’s semifinal foe will be fifth-seeded John Isner of the United States, who downed Ecuador’s Emilio Gomez 7-6 (8), 7-5. Fritz will square off with either China’s Yibing Wu or eighth-seeded Adrian Mannarino of France in the other semifinal.
Wolf won 82 percent of his first-serve points and saved 82 percent (9 of 11) of Tiafoe’s break-point opportunities. He is through to the semifinals of an event for the first time since finishing as runner-up in Florence, Italy, in October. That was his first appearance in an ATP Tour final.
Cordoba Open
Reigning champion Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain advanced to the semifinals for the third year in a row at Cordoba, Argentina, beating Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
Ramos-Vinolas, who is seeded third, broke serve three times in the final set to pull away for the win.
Sixth-seeded Federico Coria of Argentina will oppose Ramos-Vinolas next after advancing when second-seeded Argentine Francisco Cerundolo was forced to retire from their quarterfinal due to a leg injury. Coria led 6-3, 3-0, when Cerundolo stopped the match.
Bolivian qualifier Hugo Dellien rallied past Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-0. Dellien’s semifinal foe will be fourth-seeded Argentine Sebastian Baez, who eliminated Chile’s Tomas Barrios Vera 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
Open Sud de France
Unseeded U.S. player Maxime Cressy beat third-seeded Borna Coric of Croatia 7-6 (2), 6-4, to advance to the semifinals in Montpellier, France.
Cressy produced an 18-6 advantage in aces, though that number was offset somewhat by his 8-1 edge in double faults.
Next up for Cressy is the tournament’s top seed, Holger Rune of Denmark. Rune slipped past France’s Gregoire Barrere 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5).
The other semifinal will feature second-seeded Jannik Sinner, who beat Italian countryman Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-2, and 18-year-old wild-card entrant Arthur Fils, who won an all-French matchup with Quentin Halys 7-6 (3), 6-3.
–Field Level Media
