Third seed Lorenzo Sonego beat Alexander Bublik 6-1 7-5 in 79 minutes to reach the semifinal at the Viking International in Eastbourne. Sonego claimed his 17th tour-level match win of the year. 

Sonego broke twice in  the second and sixth games to win the first set 6-1. The Italian player won 65 % of his first service points  in the opening set. 

The 2021 Sardegna Open champion went up a break in the third game of the second game, but he missed two double break points at 4-2. He saved a break-back point at 4-3 before dropping his serve at 5-4. Sonego broke serve from 0-30 down to win the second set 7-5. 

Sonego has improved to 3-0 in his head-to-head matches against Bublik. 

“I am full of energy because I like playing here. My serve is good for grass court and I like playing in Eastbourne. There are a lot of Italian fans, and it is good for me. Sasha is an amazing player”, said Sonego. 

Sonego will face Max Purcell, who beat Italian veteran Andreas Seppi 6-4 1-4 6-4 after 1 hour and 58 minutes. Seppi had won his previous head-to-head against Purcell in Kitzbuhel in three sets. 

Purcell bounced back from losing the second set, winning 82 % of his first service points. 

Purcell went up a break twice in the first set to take a 3-2 lead, but Seppi broke back both times to draw level to 4-4. Purcell broke for the third time in the ninth game to claim the first set 6-4. Seppi broke twice to take a 4-0 lead, but wasted two set points in the sixth game. Seppi broke serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead, but Purcell broke straight back to draw level to 3-3. Purcell earned three match points at 5-4 and converted his second chance on Seppi’s serve. 

Top seed Danil Medvedev beat Casper Ruud 7-5 6-1 at the Mallorca Championships to reach the third grass-court semifinal of his career without dropping a set. Medvedev had prevously reached two semifinals in Eastbourne in 2017 and at Queen’s in 2019. 

Medvedev hit 8 aces and won 87 % of his first service points. He did not face a break points and dropped one point behind his first serve. 

Medvedev broke serve in the 11th game to win the first set 7-5. The Russian player went up a break in the first game. Ruud broke straight back in the second game. Medvedev broke three times in a row to win nine of the last ten games. He closed out the match with a drop shot and a volley to reach the semifinal after 1 hour and 17 minutes. 

“I feel like it was a funny match. Maybe it was not the highest level, but I am really happy to win and be in the semifinals here. I am looking forward to tomorrow. I don’t think grass is his best surface, but in the first set he was playing top level and I could not get any break points. As soon as he started serving a bit worse and making some errors, I tried to use it as fast as I could. It was important to win the first set and not not in a tie-break”, said Medvedev.

Medvedev will face Pablo Carreno Busta, who fended off all three break points he faced in his 6-4 6-4 win over Jordan Thompson. Medvedev leads 2-1 in his three head-to-head matches against Carreno Busta.   

Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi overcame Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7-5) 0-6 6-4 in two hours and 18 minutes at the Viking International in Eastbourne. 

Giorgi came back from a break down to win both the first and the third sets and recovered from a bagel loss in the second set to reach her first WTA Tour level semifinal since Palermo 2020 and the first at WTA 500 level since Tokyo 2018. 

Giorgi has scored her second top 10 win this week after beating Karolina Pliskova on Tuesday. 

Giorgi hit 23 winners to Sabalenka’s 29 and make 34 unforced errors. 

Sabalenka took a 4-2 lead in the opening set with a break in the first game, but Giorgi broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4 after Sabalenka made double faults. Sabalenka saved the first five set points she faced. Giorgi converted a chance to close out the set on her serve. Sabalenka broke three times to take a bagel win in the second set. 

The third set featured seven breaks of serve. Giorgi converted her third break point in the first game. Sabalenka won three consecutive games with two breaks to open up a 3-1 lead. Giorgi bounced back by breaking twice to take a 4-3 lead. Sabalenka broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4, but Giorgi sealed the third set 6-4 with another break in the ninth game. Giorgi will face Anett Kontaveit, who rallied from one set down to beat Anett Kontaveit 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5. Kontaveit came back fromm the brink of defeat, when Golubic was serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set.