Friday's action in ATP 250 The Open 13 Provence delivered a ton of tennis drama and emotions during the quarterfinals.
Hubert Hurkacz advanced into semifinal after defeating Mikael Ymer in a three-setter which took almost 3 hours, and was decided in a third-set tiebreak, where the Swede had a matchpoint. The match was quite a shaky performance from Hurkacz, as he dropped down his level after winning the opening set, which helped Ymer to force the decider. The Pole was leading with a break advantage 3-1 in third set, but did not manage to seal the victory and was more than close from being eliminated. Ymer had a matchpoint within a score 6-5, but it was Hubi's turn to serve. The world's number 11 won three points in a row and advanced into semis with a score 6-3 3-6 7-6(6).
Alexander Bublik will play against Hurkacz in Saturday's semifinal. The Kazakh defeated Grigor Dimitrov in anothe three-setter which was no less exciting battle, than the match between Hurkacz and Ymer. Dimitrov was a pre-match favorite with an average odd 1.47, but it was Bublik who clinched the first set 7-5. The Bulgarian leveled by winning second set 6-3. Both players approached the tie-break in third set after confident holds in every service game. Dimitrov gained the mini-break advantage for the score 5-4 with two serves on his hand to play. The Bulgarian produced two match-points, but lost both, one within own serve and one within serve of Bublik, who won for points in a row to advance into semis.
It's a breakthrough week for Bublik, who recovers from a horrific series of 10 loses in a row, not winning a single match before coming into Marseille. Advancing into semis and turning out to be better in such a tight match as the duel with Dimitrov, helps to regain the confidence of the Kazakh for sure.
Arthur Fils and Benjamin Bonzi will line up the all-French semifinal's match. 18 years-old Fils reaches back-to-back ATP semifinal on the home soil by defeating Stan Wawrinka in comfortable style. 6-3 6-2 for Fils moves him just one match away from entering the top 100 in the rankings for the first time in his career. His Saturday's opponent - Benjamin Bonzi, made an upset on tournament's seed #3 Alex De Minaur. The world's number 60 recorded a confident 6-2 6-4 win and will compete against his younger fellowcountry for the place in a final.
Here are the highlights:
