Arends/Pel Upset Second Seeds To Reach Bastad SF
Dutch tandem Sander Arends and David Pel overcame second seeds Andre Goransson and Frederik Nielsen 6-2, 6-2 to reach their second tour-level semi-final (Open 13 Provence in Marseille) of the season.
They won 74 per cent (20/27) of their first-service points. They will next face third seeds Pablo Cuevas and Fabrice Martin after they fought past Filip Bergevi and Markus Eriksson 6-3, 3-6, 10-6.
Albano Olivetti and Andre Begemann also sprung a surprise on a day of upsets, as they fought back to topple top seeds Andres Molteni and Andrea Vavassori 3-6, 6-4, 10-3 and reach the semi-finals. The German-French duo hit five aces to record victory in 84 minutes.
Elsewhere, at the Hamburg European Open, Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov defeated Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semi-final. Golubev enjoyed a run to the final at Roland Garros last month with Alexander Bublik
[WATCH LIVE 1]They will next play Michael Venus and Tim Puetz after the second seeds received a walkover against Filip Krajinovic and Dusan Lajovic. James Cerretani and Hans Hach Verdugo also advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Croatians Ivan Sabanov and Matej Sabanov.
At the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Joao Sousa and Jordan Thompson advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over Japanese pair Yoshihito Nishioka and Yasutaka Uchiyama.