World number 114, Taro Daniel, is looking forward to his maiden ATP Semi-Final in Istanbul as he takes on Jeremy Chardy on Saturday.
The 25 year old came back from a huge deficit to score one of the best victories of his career against Brazil’s Rogerio Dutra Silva in the Istanbul quarter-finals. Daniel, came back from 4-0 down in the decider to defeat the world number 121 1-6 6-1 6-4 in just over 2 hours.
The win means it is Daniel’s first ATP World Tour semi-final and it is something that the Tokyo resident is looking forward to, “I wasn’t feeling that motivated in the third while trailing 0-4. After winning a game, I started playing better and better. I got the wind behind my back. It’s amazing to make my first semi-final, but (the) toughest matches are ahead.”
Daniel hasn’t had the best season as yesterday’s match was only his 10th win of the season from 22 matches. However wins like these are a confidence booster on what is his favourite surface and will look to use this as a platform for the rest of the season.
He will now play world number 87, Jeremy Chardy in Saturday’s semi-finals after the Frenchman thrashed Italian Thomas Fabbiano 6-2 6-2 in 1 hour and 17 minutes. Chardy only lost seven points on his 1st serve as he secured his 14th victory of the season. The match will be the first meeting between Chardy and Daniel.
The other semi-final will see Marin Cilic’s conqueror, Malek Jaziri take on Serbia’s Laslo Djere. All four semi-finalists are outside the world’s top 70 in the rankings.
