Pouille On The Rise In Bucharest

Lucas Pouille is playing the best tennis of his young career. A day after knocking out second seed Ivo Karlovic, Pouille downed seventh seed Paolo Lorenzi 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals of the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy on Friday. Only one point (105-104) separated the two men after two hours and 24 minutes.

“He played really well,” Pouille said. “I was broken early in the first set and I wasn’t able to break him back. I started the second set with another break down but I broke him back right away and from there things turned in my favour. I started to play better.

“At 5-2 in the third, I had three match points but he was solid. Then at 5-3 I wasn’t able to finish on my serve. I am glad that I stayed calm at 5-5 and managed to win this match. This is a very important win.

“He is a tough opponent who has been on the tour for a long time and is close to his highest ranking. I have definitely improved my game in the last couple weeks. It is good to have a chance to play another match tomorrow.”

Pouille, No. 72 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is coming off consecutive round-of-16 appearances at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Miami and Monte-Carlo, defeating World No. 8 David Ferrer (Miami) and World No. 10 Richard Gasquet (Monte-Carlo).

Next up for the 22 year old is third seed Federico Delbonis, who eased past Marco Cecchinato 6-2, 6-2 in 68 minutes. Delbonis saved all three break points faced and improved to 10-4 on clay in 2016.

Defending champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez saved a match point in defeating Guido Pella 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(6). The fourth seed dropped serve three times and only broke his opponent once, but held strong in the deciding set to win in three hours and improve to 1-1 in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry.

“When you play a match like this, you have to fight for every point,” Garcia-Lopez said. “There are ups and downs, but in the end you just want to win. He deserved better than losing, but this is tennis. The tie-breaker in the third is like a lottery. I played with a lot of courage and I am happy to be in the semi-finals.”

Guccino/Sa Into Doubles Final

The unseeded duo of Chris Guccione and Andre Sa moved into the doubles final after beating fourth seeds Jonathan Erlich and Colin Fleming 6-4, 6-4. The Australian/Brazilian team saved four of five break points and broke their opponents three times in the 82-minute encounter.

Top-seeded Romanians Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau, and unseeded Dutchmen Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop will play for the other spot in the final. Mergea/Tecau advanced when Federico Delbonis and Paolo Lorenzi withdrew, with Delbonis citing a lower-back injury. Koolhof/Middelkoop defeated Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Santiago Gonzalez 6-2, 6-2 in less than an hour.