Roberto’s pals give up Ibiza party to come to SW19
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ROBERTO BAUTISTA AGUT cancelled his stag party to take part in Wimbledon – and the sacrifice has paid off after he booked a place in his first-ever Grand Slam semi-final. The Spaniard beat Guido Pella in a gripping quarter final 7-5 6-4 3-6, 6-3 – and will now face Novak Djokovic tomorrow. The 31-year-old No.23 seed revealed he had booked a break in Ibiza with pals this week for his bachelor bash but that has had to be rapidly cancelled. Bautista Agut, who gets married in November, said: “I had planned to be in Ibiza right now. We had everything organized – my friends, six of them, are all there. They are going to come to London now, they will fly in tomorrow.” As for facing Djokovic, he said: “I played some really, really tough and difficult matches against Novak. He’s a past champion here and he likes playing on grass but I feel really good on grass here this year.” Djokovic survived a tricky opening against Belgian David Goffin before sweeping through to his ninth Wimbledon semifinal, 6-4 6-0 6-2. The defending champion was an early break down but from there was ruthless, winning 10 games in a row across three sets. Bautista Agut’s game is not typically Spanish, with short economical swings and a flat ball strike but, like Rafa Nadal, he is a relentless workhorse, accurate and nimble around the court. He needed to be against 26th seed Pella who despite having played six hours more to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final proved a stubborn opponent in a high-quality contest.
Bautista Agut dominated early on, breaking in the first game and then having Pella in trouble at 1-3 0-40 only for the Argentine to dig himself out of a hole.
Pella clawed his way back to 4-4 but faltered on serve at 5-5 and Bautista Agut held to love to take the opening set.
Pella looked weary as a limp backhand gifted the Spaniard a decisive break at the start of the second set.
The left-handed Argentine was not finished, though, and hit back with some dazzling tennis to snatch the third set.
But the business-like Bautista Agut was relentless and jumped ahead in the fourth set before claiming victory when Pella looped a forehand over the baseline.
Djokovic, meanwhile, could not have been happier with his performance, saying: “I’ve been playing my best tennis in this tournament in the last two rounds.
“Especially today, second set and third set against Goffin, who was in form, I felt like I managed to dismantle his game and find always the right shots.
“I’m very pleased with the performance. This match could have gone a different way. I was a break down. He was the better player for most of the first set but I managed to turn things around. I feel very good.”