There is guaranteed to be at least one Argentine finalist at the Cordoba Open, as both Federico Delbonis and Juan Ignacio Londero triumphed in front of their home crowds on Friday. 

Delbonis defeated 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Jaume Munar 7-5, 6-4 in one hour and 56 minutes. The World No. 77 saved all 12 break points he faced to hold off the 21-year-old Spaniard Munar. Delbonis is pursuing his third ATP Tour title, with his most recent victory coming in Marrakech in 2016.

Delbonis will play Londero, who is into his first ATP Tour semi-final after ousting qualifier Pedro Cachin 6-4, 7-6(3). Prior to this event, Londero had never won a tour-level match in three tries. He is at a career-high No. 112 in the ATP Rankings, and has captured two ATP Challenger Tour titles. 

The highest-ranked player remaining is World No. 20 Diego Schwartzman, who is on court against compatriot Guido Pella.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga battled into the semi-finals of the Open Sud de France on Friday for the third consecutive year, outlasting compatriot Jeremy Chardy in Montpellier 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-4. It is the former World No. 5’s second semi-final of the season (also Brisbane) after reaching the last four just once from six tournaments in 2018 as he struggled with a knee injury.

“Today was a tough match, really tight. We had to play two tie-breaks in the first two sets and then I came back strong in the third,” said Tsonga, who earned the only break of the match in the final game, on his 13th opportunity. “Finally he gave me a few points in the end and I’m in the semi-finals.”

While Tsonga is the No. 210 player in the ATP Rankings, he is showing some of the level that has helped him claim 16 ATP Tour titles. The 33-year-old also came from a set down in his opener against #NextGenATP Ugo Humbert, before upsetting fourth seed Gilles Simon in straight sets.

Both players combined to save the first 15 break points of the match. Chardy fended off the most trouble, nixing Tsonga’s first 12 break chances. The sixth seed consistently stepped into the court to dominate those pressure-filled rallies with his forehand, giving Tsonga few opportunities to work his way into points by pushing the wild card deep behind the baseline.

But at the 13th time of asking, Tsonga ran around his backhand to return a second serve with his forehand, eliciting a reply into the net to end the battle after two hours and 44 minutes. Tsonga now leads the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-1. 

“I’m really happy with my level,” Tsonga said. “I hope I will be able to play a good match tomorrow.”

The home favourite will next face Moldova’s Radu Albot, who defeated Cypriot qualifier Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 7-6(2), to reach his second tour-level semi-final. Fittingly, the World No. 90’s first trip to the last four of an ATP Tour event also came in France, last year in Metz.

Radu Albot surprised third seed John Isner at the inaugural New York Open on Wednesday evening to earn his first victory against an opponent inside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings. 

It does not get any easier for the Moldovan, who will face former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals. But the Japanese superstar is not taking Albot lightly.

“He’s a very good grinder player and he doesn’t miss much,” Nishikori said of the World No. 91. “I’ve got to really focus against him.”

ATPWorldTour.com spoke to Albot after his second-round triumph against the home favourite, discussing his passions, what he wants to do after his career and more.

What’s your biggest passion outside of sport and why?
My hobby is to ride my bike. This is one of my favourite things. When I get home I ride the bike all the time with my friends. I just get excited for it. It’s my top hobby.

What was the last book you read?
I read a lot of books. I read the biographies of a lot of players, like Andre Agassi. I read The Four Musketeers. I also read The Mindset, a book about psychology.

If you could have dinner with three people who would they be?
Maybe some famous people or some actor.

Favourite Movie?
Mr. Brooks.

Last concert or show you attended?
I was at a lot of shows. I was at Aladdin. I was at The Lion King. The last one I was at was Cirque du Soleil.

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Favourite sport to watch besides tennis?
Speaking about sports, now it’s the Winter Olympics. I like the biathlon a lot. I like watching curling. If you talk about some other sports, not in the winter, I like soccer.

Favourite club?
I like Real Madrid.

Whom do you admire most?
I admire my father, I have to say, because he helped me a lot in life and taught me a lot of things. So I think that’s the person I admire the most.

My tennis career will be a success if ___________
I can’t say my career is not a success. Everybody is proud with what they achieved and what they’ve done. I guess human beings all the time want more and more. You have something, you want something else. You want more. But nobody is really satisfied and thankful for what they have at the moment. So I think I would say my career is a success. Of course you want to be [ranked] higher, but I’m happy.

After my tennis career, I want to ___________
I think I would like to stay in tennis, in sport, maybe to open an academy in my country because tennis and everything is not really well developed in my country and I would like to help the kids get better. There is not really a player who is coming behind me. As a professional, there are no ranked players. So maybe I would like to improve the sport in my country and create some possibilities for the younger kids.

Tomas Berdych saved two match points on Friday to keep alive his chances of winning the Open Sud de France for the second time. The 2012 champion scraped past Filip Krajinovic of Serbia 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 7-5 in two hours and 42 minutes for a place in the semi-finals.

Berdych looked on course for his 10th match win of the year when he led Krajinovic by a set and a break, at 4-3 in the second set. But Krajinovic surged back and broke in the first game of the decider en route to a 5-3 advantage. At 4-5, Berdych saved two match points from 15/40 and went onto win 14 of the next 18 points to complete victory.

The 33-year-old Czech, who fell to No. 79 in ATP Rankings on 28 January, his lowest position since No. 79 on 16 August 2004, will next play third-seeded NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov or seventh seed Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France on Saturday.

Later today, during the night session, sixth seed Jeremy Chardy takes on fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a three-time former semi-finalist, and Cypriot qualifier Marcos Baghdatis challenges Radu Albot of Macedonia.

Nikola Mektic and Jurgen Melzer edged through to their first ATP Tour team final on Friday with a 5-7, 6-4, 10-6 victory over Indians Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Purav Raja in 89 minutes at the Sofia Open.

Third-seeded Indians Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan, winners of the Tata Open Maharashtra trophy last month, will take on Cheng-Peng Hsieh and Christopher Rungkat in the semi-finals, following a 6-3, 6-1 win over wild cards Alexander Donski and Alexandar Lazarov.

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At the Open Sud de France, top seeds Ivan Dodig and Edouard Roger-Vasselin booked their places in the final with a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory over Leander Paes and Benoit Paire in 80 minutes. They now await the winners of French wild cards Benjamin Bonzi and Antoine Hoang, or Britons Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara.

Italy’s Matteo Berrettini grew in confidence on serve on Friday to beat sixth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 22 minutes for a place in the Sofia Open semi-finals.

Verdasco recovered from 0/40, when serving at 3-3, but was broken in the 11th game of the second set. Berrettini, the 2018 Gstaad champion, gave little away on serve in the second and third sets — losing just eight of his first-service points. At one stage, the 22-year-old won 12 of 14 points, including a service break for a 3-2 lead in the decider.

Berrettini will now face Marton Fucsovics, who celebrated his 27th birthday by advancing to the second ATP Tour semi-final of his career. The Hungarian was awarded a walkover when his opponent, 2016 champion and fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut, withdrew, prior to their first meeting, due to illness. Last year, Fucsovics won his first ATP Tour title in Geneva (d. Gojowczyk).

Later today, third-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev takes on Martin Klizan of Slovakia and second-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals titlist, faces seventh seed Gael Monfils of France.