Berankis Fights Back In Pune, Reach Fourth ATP Tour Semi-final

Second seed Ricardas Berankis booked a place in his first ATP Tour semi-final for more than two years on Friday after he recovered to beat fifth-seeded Japanese Yuichi Sugita 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 in two hours and 16 minutes at the Tata Open Maharashtra.

Sugita, who reached an ATP Challenger Tour final in Noumea (l. to Wolf) at the start of the 2020 season, came within a point of a set and 3-0 lead on three occasions, but Berankis battled back for a place in his first semi-final since October 2017 at the VTB Kremlin Cup.

The Lithuanian, who is through to his fourth tour-level semi-final, now faces Jiri Vesely, who lived to fight another day after saving two match points against Ilya Ivashka in a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(11) victory over two hours and 30 minutes. The Czech saved match points at 5/6 and 9/10 in the third-set tie-break.

Later in the day, fourth seed Soonwoo Kwon takes on eighth seed Egor Gerasimov, while sixth seed James Duckworth meets qualifier Roberto Marcora.