Granollers/Zeballos March Into Cincinnati SFs
Second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos moved past Alex de Minaur and Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4 on Friday at the Western & Southern Open to reach their third ATP Masters 1000 semi-final of the season.
The Spanish-Argentine tandem broke De Minaur and Norrie three times to advance in 72 minutes. Granollers and Zeballos lifted the trophy at the Mutua Madrid Open in May and reached the semi-finals at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April.
They will next face Fabio Fognini of Italy and Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador, who upset fourth seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 6-4, 7-6(5). Fognini and Arevalo are teaming for the first time this week and saved two match points in their first-round victory on Monday.
[FOLLOW 1000]Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah also advanced, overcoming Tim Puetz and Michael Venus 6-4, 6-4 as the third seeds aim to win their first Masters 1000 title since Rome in 2019.
The Colombians, who have reached the final in Cincinnati in 2018 and 2019, won 79 per cent (30/38) of their first-service points to advance in one hour and 30 minutes. They will next face Austin Krajicek and Steve Johnson after the Americans downed Hubert Hurkacz and #NextGenATP star Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-1.
It is the first time Krajicek and Johnson have teamed this year, with the pair last competing in 2020 at the Western & Southern Open when it was held in New York, also reaching the semi-finals on that occasion.