Top-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany and second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain continued their march toward a showdown in the final of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria.
In Friday’s quarterfinals, Zverev, looking for his third title of the year, cruised past Great Britain’s Arthur Fery, 6-0, 6-2. Alcaraz, seeking his fourth trophy of the season, had a little more difficulty but dispatched No. 7 seed Tommy Paul, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
Two formidable opponents stand in their way of a 14th career meeting. Third-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev routed France’s Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 6-3, while fifth-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur got past Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Zverez will face de Minaur, while Alcaraz battles Medvedev in the semifinals on Saturday.
In the most competitive match of the quarterfinals, Alcaraz saved all five of his break points and earned the match’s lone break in the seventh game of the first set. The Spaniard fended off two break-point chances in the eighth game of the second set and won four consecutive points early in the tiebreaker to prevail.
Swiss Indoors Basel
No. 6 seed Taylor Fritz is the highest remaining seed in Switzerland after his quarterfinal opponent, second-seeded Frenchman Arthur Fils, retired down 6-2, 2-0.
Fils had been dealing with back issues, but “felt a slight pain in one leg during a movement right at the beginning of the match” and could not continue. The injury to Fils, currently seventh in the race for the ATP Finals, could take open up a spot for players like de Minaur, Novak Djokovic and Fritz who are currently ranked 10th, 11th and 12th.
Fritz will face Monaco’s Valetin Vacherot in the semifinals. Vacherot defeated Holger Rune 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, as the Dane continues his comeback from a ruptured Achilles tendon injury.
The other semifinal will feature eighth-seeded Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic against Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany. Lehecka ended the upset hopes of Swiss 23-year-old Jerome Kym, defeating the crowd favorite 6-4, 6-2. Struff routed Portugal’s Nuno Borges, 6-2, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
