Tomic, Dolgopolov Set Semi-final Clash

Bernard Tomic will meet Alexandr Dolgopolov for a place in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel final after both posted straight-sets victories on Thursday. Fifth-seeded Tomic, contesting his fourth quarter-final of the year, landed a narrow 7-5, 7-5 victory against Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko, while Marchenko’s compatriot Dolgopolov easily accounted for Robin Haase 6-3, 6-3.

Tomic managed to break five times, winning 59 per cent of points on his 28-year-old opponent’s second serve. The World No. 21 in the Emirates ATP Rankings was appearing in the Acapulco quarter-finals for the second year in a row having earlier defeated Rajeev Ram and Adrian Mannarino without the loss of a set.

Marchenko was appearing in his eighth ATP World Tour quarter-final and had taken down a pair of American qualifiers in succession, Tommy Paul and Ryan Harrison, before encountering the 23-year-old Tomic. Dolgopolov, coming off an upset of top seed and defending champion David Ferrer, was contesting the quarter-finals at Acapulco for the fourth time. The 27 year old’s one-hour, four-minute result over Dutchman Haase levelled the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series at 2-2.

He will carry confidence into his semi-final against Tomic, having won six of the nine times he has faced the Australian. “I’ll try to do the same as all the other matches I’ve played here,” Dolgopolov said. “I played aggressive here today and that’s what I need to do tomorrow.

“We’ve played a lot of times, he’s a tricky player. He slices well, he plays all around the court, serves well and breaks up your rhythm. I think it will be on my racquet because I risk a bit more than him in general.”