Federer in semis after scrappy win in Turkey
TOP seed Roger Federer overcame some sloppy serving to beat unseeded Daniel Gimenotraver of Spain 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-3 and reach the Istanbul Open semi-finals yesterday.
Federer, who dropped his serve twice, missed seven chances to break Gimeno-traver for a second time in the second set. But the Swiss star saved four breaks points on his opening service game of the deciding set.
Meanwhile, second-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, of Bulgaria, advanced to the semis with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Croatia’s Ivan Dodig, and will play the winner of yesterday’s later quarter-final between third-seeded Pablo Cuevas, of Uruguay, and Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci.
Federer, who trailed 5-2 in the second set, was not at his best. But he picked up his game when it mattered, rallying from 40-15 down in the eighth game to break Gimeno-traver for 5-3 and then served out the match.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion, who needed two hours, 28 minutes to win, next faces eighth-seeded Diego Schwartzman, of Argentina, who beat fourth-seeded Columbian Santiago Giraldo 0-6, 6-2, 6-2.
While Federer is chasing his 85th career title and third this year, Schwartzman reached his first career semi-final, despite winning just seven points in the entire first set and trailing 2-0 in the second set.
“I lost the first eight games. He started really well and maybe I was a little nervous,” Schwartzman said. “The crowd was amazing for me, I hope tomorrow will be the same.”
Meanwhile, Andy Murray’s BMW Open quarter-final was postponed until today after rain called a halt to proceedings in Munich yesterday.
Murray is up against Lukas Rosol in the last eight and will now have to take on the Czech player on the same day the Scot is also set to play his doubles semi-final alongside Dutch partner Jean-julien Rojer.
Tournament organisers
in Munich held out for as long as they could yesterday before abandoning play for the day.
Murray had on Thursday eased into the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-2 win over home qualifier Mischa Zverev.
On the WTA Tour, Karolina Pliskova and Lucie Hradecka will contest an all-czech final at the Banka Prague Open after wins yesterday.
Top seed Pliskova endured a topsy-turvy second set to see off the challenge of Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 7-5, with the home favourite overturning back a 3-1 deficit before toppling her opponent.
Hradecka was made to work even harder for her place in the final as she battled for almost two hours to see off the challenge of Czech compatriot Katerina Siniakova 6-2 4-6 6-4.
Hradecka is aiming to win her first WTA Tour final, having finished as runner-up in six previous attempts.
In Morocco, fourth seed Elina Svitolina eased into the final of the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem thanks to a straight-sets victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
The Ukrainian needed barely an hour to post a 6-0 6-3 victory and end the challenge of her seventh-seeded opponent.
Svitolina is chasing her third WTA title and will take on Hungary’s Timea Babos in today’s final. Babos, who is not seeded in Marrakech, beat Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 6-4 as she hunts a second tour trophy to add to the silverware she won at Monterrey in 2012.