No. 2 seed Richard Gasquet handled Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6, 7-6 in the Hertogenbosch quarterfinals on Friday, making him the only seeded player to reach the last four.
The Frenchman was rarely challenged, easily swatting away all four break points he faced and racing out to large leads in both tiebreaks. Neither player served exceptionally well — both hovered around 60 percent of first serves in play — but each won at least three-quarters of first serve points.
The grinding match rarely resembled a grass affair, with routine long rallies pushing the contest over two hours. Both players faced break points in their opening service games, but settled from there to reach the tiebreak.
There, Gasquet raced to a 5-1 lead. Tsitsipas appeared to be favoring his right arm and shoulder and took a medical timeout, but appeared no worse for wear and fought his way to another breaker. Unfortunately for the No. 5 seed, it progressed nearly identically to the first — a big early lead for Gasquet, and a 7-2 decision.
“It was a good match. I was very solid,” Gasquet said. “I’m really happy with the way I played, because Stefanos is a good player.”
The 31-year-old will meet qualifier Bernard Tomic in the semifinals after the Australian saw off No. 4 seed Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 7-6. The win continued a torrid stretch for Tomic, who has won five matches in a week in Hertogenbosch without dropping a set.
He displayed that form from the opening game, breaking at love and winning nine of the first 10 points. He used a dominant first serve — he missed just four across the set and lost only three points on good first serves — to see out the set without facing a break point. Verdasco, meanwhile, made a putrid 39 percent of first serves and sprayed groundstrokes wide to compound his problems.
That changed in the second set, as Verdasco became more comfortable returning Tomic’s serve and used his own serve more effectively. The Spaniard drew Tomic into the net on his first break point, then dropped a forehand into the Australian’s feet for a 2-0 lead.
Verdasco harnessed a handful of his 11 second set aces to hold his two subsequent service games at love and secure a comfortable lead, but he lost his touch at 4-2. That eventually led to the tiebreak, where Tomic cruised to a 4-0 lead and eased to his first semifinal since Queen’s Club in 2016.
“It was a difficult match. I had to start really well,” said Tomic, who called winning the tournament, which would be his first on grass, his goal. “That first break for me was very important. After [that] I started to play good.”
The unseeded Matthew Ebden and Jeremy Chardy will meet in Saturday’s other semifinal. Chardy wrestled past American wildcard Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 in more than two hours, winning his eighth straight match on grass after a victory in the Surbiton challenger last week. The Frenchman tallied 22 aces to two double faults, but won barely a quarter of points on McDonald’s serve and converted only one of five break points.
Ebden, a Surbiton semifinalist, crisply defeated Marius Copil 6-3, 6-3 in 66 minutes. The Australian put fewer than two-thirds of first serves in play but won an astounding 47 percent of return points.
