John Millman has grabbed his first ever win over a top-15 player after downing Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-3, in the semifinals of the Winston-Salem Open.
The unseeded Australian fired eight aces and converted five out of seven break points to progress to his first semifinal on the ATP Tour. Milman did face tough resistance from the French top seed and trailed in both sets before coming back to seal the 93-minute victory.
Milman’s victory comes after what has been a hectic past couple of weeks for the 27-year-old. Winston-Salem is his third consecutive tournament on the tour ahead of next week’s US Open. Playing so much tennis recently, Millman had admitted that it is taking a toll on his body.
“No matter what level, every tournament I go in to compete, to do my best and to win,”He was quoted by atpworldtour.com as saying.
“To be honest, at the start of the week I was a bit busted physically because of the long weeks at the Olympics and in Cincinnati. But now I’m moving great and I’m hitting the ball really well. It’s a treat to be here. The conditions are great and suit my game well.”
Millman’s win has left a bitter taste for Gasquet, who is playing in only his second tournament since Wimbledon due to a back injury. The disappointed world No.15 praised his opponent following his loss.
“It was very tough for me,” Gasquet said the match.
“I hadn’t played in five weeks this summer (after being injured at Wimbledon) and physically it was very difficult. He played very well and deserved to win.”
In the semifinals Milman will play Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta, a player he has beaten in straight sets earlier this year. Carreno Busta progressed to the last four after easing his way past Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-3.
No problem for Bautista Agut
The highest seed remaining in the draw, Roberto Bautista Agut, experienced no problems during his quarter-final match against Lu Yen-Hsun. The second seed dropped only seven points on his serve throughout the match as he dismissed Lu 6-3, 6-2, in just over an hour to reach his first ATP semifinal since February.
Bautista Agut will play Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in the last four. The ninth seed battled his way past Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in a two-hour encounter. It will be the second meeting between the two players this year after the Sofia Open in Bulgaria. On the occasion, Bautista Agut clinched the win in straight sets on route to winning the title.
A title this week would hand the Spaniard his fifth ATP title and his first in North America.
