Alexander Zverev continued to build on a career-best 2016 season by defeating top seed David Goffin 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the BMW Open by FWU AG on Friday. Zverev, currently ranked a career-best No. 49 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, secured the win in two hours and 22 minutes to move into his fourth ATP World Tour semi-finals.

“He’s been playing really well in the past months, making the semi-finals of two [ATP World Tour] Masters 1000 events, so it was nice to win,” Zverev said.

The German set the tone early in the match, landing 71 per cent of first serves and breaking Goffin twice en route to winning the opening set. The Belgian, who won the pair’s lone previous meeting at the Mons Challenger in 2014, survived seven aces in the second set and pushed the match to a decider. The 19 year old then showed his mettle, only losing three points on serve the rest of the way.

Standing between Zverev and his first ATP World Tour final is third seed Dominic Thiem, who saw off Ivan Dodig 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 12 minutes. Thiem fired eight aces and landed 65 per cent of first serves in the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. The 22 year old, No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is now tied with Novak Djokovic for most tour-level wins on the season (28-7). He is now 12-2 on clay in 2016.

“I’m really looking forward to [facing Thiem],” Zverev said. “We spend a lot of time off the court together. It will be the first of many [matches] for us.”

Philipp Kohlschreiber snapped a six-match losing streak against Juan Martin del Potro with a 6-4, 6-1 quarter-final win. The German saved both break points faced and broke the Argentine four times in the 80-minute encounter. His semi-final opponent will be fifth seed Fabio Fognini, who edged Lucky Loser Jozef Kovalik 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 in two hours.

Colombian Duo Into Doubles Final

Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah are into the Munich doubles final after defeating Austrians Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya 7-6(5), 6-3 on Friday. The second seeds fired 11 aces in the 82-minute win and await the winner of Oliver Marach/Fabrice Martin and Henri Kontinen/John Peers in the final. 

A 5.6 earthquake hit Taipei, Taiwan, on Wednesday night, but it didn’t faze the players competing in this week’s ATP Challenger Tour event there.

The earthquake was the first of 26 to rock eastern Taiwan between 11:17 p.m. on Wednesday and 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, and was also recorded as the strongest one. Luckily, there were no reports of damage or injuries and it was business as usual on Thursday for the players still on site this week.

“I was sleeping when it happened,” said Luke Saville. “It was a little bit scary, but it was okay once I realised what it was.”

Although this was the first earthquake many of the players had experienced, others were more well-versed in dealing with them.

“It happened when I played in Los Angeles and then in Japan for Davis Cup,” said Amir Weintraub. “This one wasn’t too big, though.”

Semi-final action in Taipei kicks off on Saturday and features No. 1 seed Ricardas Berankis, who is currently on a 13-match winning streak and looking for his third consecutive ATP Challenger Tour title. 

Grigor Dimitrov is one match win away from reaching his eighth ATP World Tour final, having advanced to the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open semi-finals for the second year running.

Second seed Dimitrov recovered to beat sixth seed Jiri Vesely 7-6(1), 6-1 in 77 minutes on Friday. Dimitrov fought back from a 2-5 deficit in the first set and saved one set point at 4-5, when Vesely was serving at 40/30.

“With each match, I’m building up a good foundation to play better,” Dimitrov said. “Tomorrow I am going to keep doing that.”

He awaits third seed Ivo Karlovic, who recorded the 301st match win of his career 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 6-4 against fifth seed Marcel Granollers. Karlovic struck 20 aces and was not broken in the two-hour, 13-minute encounter.

Fourth seed Federico Delbonis will meet fellow Argentine Diego Schwartzman for a place in Sunday’s final. “We know each other very well and we know what one another will do,” said Delbonis. “I’m happy to be in the semi-finals.”

Delbonis maintained his recent run of form by beating eighth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(6), 6-4 in one hour and 56 minutes, having saved one set point at 5/6 in the first set tie-break. This month’s Marrakech champion (d. Coric) is now 19-9 on the year.

Schwartzman advanced to the semi-finals for the second successive year after he battled past Damir Dzumhur 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-2 in two hours and 48 minutes. Schwartzman beat top seed Bernard Tomic in the second round.

Tennis fans are used to a coin toss to decide which player will serve first in a match, but this week’s ATP Challenger Tour event in Taipei, Taiwan, is putting a unique twist on this customary practice.

The tournament is showcasing some of the local culture by using jiaobei blocks in lieu of a standard coin. Made out of wood or bamboo and then carved into a crescent shape, the divination blocks are traditionally thrown in pairs to answer a yes or no question. Although they are more commonly found in temples and home shrines as a means of attempting to receive an answer from the gods, only the tennis gods are being called upon at this week’s Challenger to help answer who will kick off the match.

“I’ve played matches in countries across the globe. I’ve seen all kinds of coins and currencies used to decide who serves first, but never the traditional wooden pieces used here in Taipei,” said Liam Broady, who advanced into the quarter-finals on Thursday. “I had to query the umpire more than once on how they would decide who served because I didn’t understand how they worked. I think it’s a fun way to change the routine of starting a tennis match.”

Play continues on Friday in Taipei and features No. 1 seed Ricardas Berankis, who is currently riding a 13-match winning streak on the ATP Challenger Tour.