Spanish 19-year-old Next Gen star Alejandro Davidovich Fokina rallied from one set down to beat Gael Monfils 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-4 at the Estorils Open.
Fokina, who won the 2017 Wimbledon Boys’ title, scored his first three wins on the ATP Tour this year beating Taylor Fritz, Jeremy Chardy and Gael Monfils. Fokina scored five consecutive wins to reach the semifinal after coming through the qualifying round.
Monfils earned the first break in the third game of the opening set to take a 2-1 lead. Fokina converted his third break point at deuce in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Both players traded breaks in the 11th and 12th games to set up a tie-break. Monfils won five consecutive points from 2-2 to clinch the tie-break 7-2.
Both players traded breaks at love in the first two games of the second set. Fokina saved a break point to hold his serve at deuce in the eighth game before breaking serve in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead. The Spanish teenager sealed the win on his first match point in the 12th game.
Fokina wasted a break lead twice in the fourth and eighth games of the third set but he broke for the third time to take a 5-4 lead. He will face Uruguay’s lucky loser Pablo Cuevas 6-0 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 after 2 hours and six minutes.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has reached his second consecutive semifinal in Estoril after defeating Portuguese qualifier Joao Domingues 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in Friday’s quarter final.
Domingues, who upset Alex De Minaur and John Millman earlier this week, got the first break of the match in the third game of the opening set to build up a 5-3 lead. Tsitsipas broke back in the 10th game at 30 to draw level to 5-5. Tsitsipas held a set point at 6-5 40-30 on Domingues’ serve, but the Portuguese player held to force the first set to the tie-break. Tsitsipas won four consecutive mini-breaks from 3-3 to win the tie-break 7-3.
Both players held their serve in the first six games before three consecutive breaks. Tsitsipas got two of the these three breaks to take a 5-4 lead. The Greek Next Gen player served out the win on his first match point.
“I feel like I was much more disciplined than usual. I am really happy with the victory. I did not start very well, but I managed to find my rhythm game by game and broke back when I had to. I got the break back and then I felt like the momentum was going to me”,said Tsitsipas.
Tsitsipas will face a semifinal clash against David Goffin, who came back from one set down to beat Malek Jaziri 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2. Tsitsipas leads 3-2 in his five head-to-head matches against Goffin.
Goffin got the first break in the third game of the opening set to take a 2-1 lead. Jaziri broke back in the sixth game at deuce to draw level to 3-3. Jaziri saved two break points after two deuces in the ninth game before breaking serve at deuce to close out the first set 6-4.
Goffin went up a double break in the third and fifth games to take a 4-1 lead. Jaziri pulled back one break at love for 2-4. Goffin broke for the third time on his third break point chance at deuce to build up a 5-3 lead. Jaziri recovered by breaking twice in a row in the eighth and tenth games to draw level to 5-5 sending the second set to the tie-break. Jaziri reeled off three consecutive points from 4-4 to win the tie-break 7-4.
Goffin got a double break in the second and eighth games to close out the decisive set 6-2.
