Spain’s Feliciano Lopez has continued his strong run at the Los Cabos Open by defeating France’s Julien Benneteau 6-3, 6-4, in the quarter-finals.
The top seed remained unbroken throughout his last-eight encounter, successfully fending off 4/4 break points in the match. Lopez was especially impressive with his first serve performance as he won 92% of points compared to his opponents 58%.
Lopez is bidding to win back-to-back titles on the ATP tour for the first time in his career after recently triumphing at the Bastad Open. In the semifinals, he will play fellow compatriot and wildcard Pablo Carreno Busta. The world No.55 was on the verge of leaving the tournament after trailing by a set and 0-3 to Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo before staging a mighty comeback. Busta recovered to defeat the Colombian, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-3, in a three hour marathon.
“It was a hard game and really long.” Busta said about his quarter-final match.
“I managed to keep calm during the match. It is a good opportunity, my first semifinal in this type of surface. I am getting better and achieving more at this level,” he added.
The upcoming semifinal clash will be the first meeting between Lopez and Busta since the 2014 Valencia Open. On the occasion Lopez sealed the win in straight sets.
In the other section of the draw, third seed Ivo Karlovic fired 19 aces during his roller coaster 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-1, win over Marcel Granollers. The win takes the Croat to his fourth ATP semifinal this season and his third since July.
Awaiting Karlovic in the semifinals will be Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic. The world No.72 required 94 minutes to edge his way past former top 10 player Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 7-6(5). 26-year-old Lajovic will now play in only his third ATP semifinal and his first ever on a hard-court.
“I was aggressive from the beginning, I tried to not make any mistakes. I Played my game and controlled myself, that is important when you play with a rival like Almagro,” Lajovic said following his win.
Karlovic has a 5-0 winning head-to-head record against Lajovic and defeated him in straight sets earlier this year at the Istanbul Open.
