Gasquet Saves MP To Reach Antwerp SF

Fourth seed Richard Gasquet saved one match point at 7/8 in the deciding set tie-break of a 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(9) victory over Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff on Friday at the European Open.

The 32-year-old continues his strong season, advancing to his sixth tour-level semi-final of the year. Earlier this month, the Frenchman made the last four at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018, another indoor hard-court event, where he lost to in-form Kei Nishikori. The Libema Open champion, who owns 15 ATP World Tour trophies, is trying to capture two titles in the same season for the fifth time in his career. 

Gasquet first held two match point chances at 6-5 in the third set, but finally converted his eighth match point — and his sixth of the tie-break — to complete his 34th match win of the season. He next plays Briton Kyle Edmund, who advanced when qualifier Ilya Ivashka withdrew due to a left thigh injury. Edmund has won two of the pair’s three FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, and he is pursuing his maiden ATP World Tour title.

Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman is one match win away from reaching the Antwerp final for the third straight year. The second seed came through a match of nine service breaks to beat fifth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 36 minutes. Schwartzman will next face Frenchman Gael Monfils, who ousted Canadian Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 6-4. 

Monfils was fresh off a victory against compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. And in the quarter-finals, he maintained that momentum, striking 10 aces and saving the two break points he faced en route to a one-hour, 35-minute triumph. Schwartzman beat the Frenchman earlier this year at the Rio Open presented by Claro, where he eventually claimed the biggest title of his career. Monfils, who was victorious at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in January, will try to avenge that quarter-final defeat to reach his second tour-level final of 2018.

Demoliner/Gonzalez Advance To Doubles Final
Marcelo Demoliner and Santiago Gonzalez, winners of the Turkish Airlines Antalya Open title in June (d. Arends/Middelkoop), booked a place in the final by beating Spanish brothers Gerard Granollers and Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-4 in 59 minutes. They await the winners of second-seeded Frenchmen Nicholas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin and fourth seeds Divij Sharan and Artem Sitak.