Top seed Roberto Bautista Agut remains on course for claiming his third title of the season after easing past Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-2, in the quarter-finals of the St. Petersburg Open.
The world No.13 heavily benefited from his opponent’s unforced error count of 35 throughout the 70-minute match. Hitting a total of 13 winners and converting five out of his eight break point opportunities to move into the semifinals.
“The match was very tight and Troicki is very tough to beat, he is always fighting until the last point and I played a very good match.” Said the top seed, who won 60 out of the 100 points played in the match.
The top seed will next play Italy’s Fabio Fognini, who crushed Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 6-0, in under an hour. Fognini, who is playing in his first tournament since being suspended from the US Open, hit a total of 15 winners past his error-stricken rival. In contrast Berankis produced only four winners and 32 unforced errors.
“It going to be really tough. We know each other really well and we have played (against each other) a lot of times.” Fognini said about his upcoming clash with the top seed. “I’m happy to be in the semifinals of St. Petersburg and I hope to do well tomorrow.”
Despite being the highest ranked player in this year’s tournament, the 29-year-old Spaniard insists that he isn’t under any extra pressure to perform well. He is only one of three top 30 players to feature in the draw. The other two are Fognini and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
“I think to be seeded is a very good thing.” He explained. “I think I’m playing well here in St. Petersburg and I feel good here.”
Tsonga’s frustration
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lost a seemingly dominant lead to go out to Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff. The Frenchman looked on course for a straight sets victory after leading 6-3, 3-1, before Stuff staged a fierce comeback. As the match progressed, the momentum continued to switch in favor of the eighth seed. Midway through the match, Tsonga called from a trainer after hurting his knee during a point. In the closing stages of the match, he was seen moving gingerly around the court.
“I played him three times already and lost to him three times. So it means a lot for me to beat him today.” Stuff said during his post-match interview.
There has been no update given on the current status of Tsonga’s injury and the severity of it.
Standing in the way of Stuff’s place in his first ever ATP Final is Damir Dzumhur. The Bosnian required almost two hours to end Liam Broady’s fairytale run at the tournament with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, win. Brady had never before won a tour match outside of the UK before this week. The Victory has also sealed a milestone for Dzumhur, who will break the world’s top 50 for the first time in his career.
“It will be a very tough fight. Damir is a great guy, great player. He’s a great fighter, he puts so much spirit and energy into the game. So it will be very close and a tough fight.” Stuff said his next opponent.
