Austria’s Dominic Thiem saved three match points rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (9), 7-6 (4) win to oust No. 1 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the quarterfinals of the European Open on Friday in Antwerp, Belgium.
Thiem, who claimed the 2020 U.S. Open but hasn’t won since then due in part to a wrist injury, absorbed Hurkacz’s 17 aces and won 51 of his 63 first-service points (81 percent). He staved off Hurkacz when the Pole held a 6-4 lead in the second-set tiebreaker. Neither player broke serve in the third set before Thiem cruised in the tiebreaker.
Thiem will face Sebastian Korda in the semifinals after the 22-year-old American walloped Japan’s eighth-seeded Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 6-2 in less than 53 minutes.
No. 2 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada had to storm back to defeat British fifth seed Daniel Evans 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2. He’ll meet Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the semis; Gasquet beat Belgium’s David Goffin 6-2, 7-6 (6).
Stockholm Open
No. 1 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece handled Sweden’s Mikael Ymer 7-5, 6-3 to reach the semifinals in Sweden.
Tsitsipas will face Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori, who surprised American third seed Frances Tiafoe 6-1, 6-2 in less than 65 minutes. Ruusuvuori won a whopping 26 of 27 first-service points (96.3 percent).
The other semifinal will pit fifth seed Alex de Minaur of Australia against seventh seed Holger Rune of Denmark. De Minaur outlasted Canadian fourth seed Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 7-6 (4) and Rune turned the tables on second seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3.
Tennis Napoli Cup
Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, the fifth seed, upset top seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals in Naples, Italy.
Kecmanovic saved seven of eight break points while converting four of seven opportunities to break Carreno Busta’s serve. Earlier in the day, Carreno Busta had to play his second-round match and swept Italy’s Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-1 in 53 minutes.
In the semifinals, Kecmanovic will face No. 4 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, who took care of Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan 6-3, 6-0.
Musetti will be joined in the semis by countryman and second seed Matteo Berrettini, who beat Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-2, 6-3. Berrettini’s opponent will be Mackenzie McDonald, an American who rallied past Chinese qualifier Zhizhen Zhang 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
–Field Level Media
