Haase/Middelkoop March On In Rotterdam
Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop continued their title pursuit at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament on Friday, downing Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 6-4, 3-6, 10-4 to reach the semi-finals in Rotterdam.
The Dutch pair had never been beyond the last eight at the ATP 500 event in three previous appearances together. However, they ensured they changed this record with a strong performance against Gille and Vliegen.
Haase and Middelkoop fired five aces and won 81 per cent (25/31) of their first-serve points to advance after 77 minutes. They will next play Nicolas Mahut and Fabrice Martin after the third seeds received a walkover from Alexander Bublik and Aslan Karatsev.
Gonzalez/Molteni Edge Through In Buenos Aires
Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni extended their winning run to seven matches on Friday at the Argentina Open, overcoming fourth seeds Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic 7-5, 4-6, 10-6.
The Mexican-Argentine tandem lifted the trophy at the Cordoba Open last week and edged closer to another title in Buenos Aires with a hard-fought one-hour and 36-minute victory against Brkic and Cacic to advance to the final.
They will next meet second seeds Fabio Fognini and Horacio Zeballos or third seeds Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar.
Querrey/Withrow Advance To Face Top Seeds In Dallas SFs
Americans Sam Querrey and Jackson Withrow scored a 7-6(4), 7-6(3) victory over Nathaniel Lammons and Andre Goransson to set up a semi-final showdown against top seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer.
The Dallas singles draw features an all-American final four, and there are now two all-American teams in the double semis as Querrey and Withrow join John Isner and Jack Sock, who advanced on Thursday. Isner is still standing in both draws.
Isner and Sock will face Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara in Saturday’s semis, after the British-Finnish duo beat the Mexican pairing of Hans Hach Verdugo and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, 6-1, 7-6(4).