Zverev Saves Match Points In Nice

Next Generation star Alexander Zverev is through to his third ATP World Tour semi-final of the season after saving two match points to oust second seed Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(1) on Thursday at the Open de Nice Cote d’Azur.

“Playing against Gilles is always tough, especially on this surface,” Zverev said. “He played quite well to save two match points in the second set. Unfortunately I couldn’t win in straight sets, but I did well to recover in the third.

“I’ve now played two three-hour matches back-to-back, so I’ll see how I feel tomorrow.”

The 19-year-old German had the chance to close out the match when he led 6/4 in the second set tie-break, but Simon rallied to force a decider. The Frenchman then had two match points of his own with Zverev serving at 5-6, 15/40, but the teenager held his nerve and dominated the subsequent tie-break to claim victory in just shy of three hours.

It was Zverev’s third victory over Simon this year, having also beaten the 31-year-old Frenchman in Rotterdam and Indian Wells. He saved eight of 10 break points faced.

Zverev will attempt to reach his first ATP World Tour final when he faces Joao Sousa on Friday. The right-hander lost in the semi-finals in Montpellier (l. to Mathieu) and Munich (l. to Thiem) earlier in the year.

The fifth-seeded Sousa was a 7-5, 7-5 winner over Kevin Anderson. The Portuguese prevailed in one hour and 37 minutes, saving the six break points he faced. Sousa is a career-high No. 28 in the Emirates ATP Rankings this week and will contest his first semi-final of the season.

“I played a great match. The conditions were windy but I stayed solid,” Sousa said. “Kevin has a very big serve and hits hard from the baseline, so it was a good win for me today.”

Top seed Dominic Thiem prevented Andreas Seppi from scoring his 300th ATP World Tour victory with a 6-3, 6-3 quarter-final win. The Austrian star did not face a break point and needed just 66 minutes to score his 34th win of the year. The reigning Nice champion improved to 8-1 at the event and remains in contention for his sixth ATP World Tour title. Only Novak Djokovic has more match wins (37) than Thiem in 2016.

“I felt very good on the court again today,” Thiem said. “I practised a lot before the tournament to get used to the conditions and the balls here. Last year I played well and today I was able to continue my good form.”

Seppi dropped to 299-317 in tour-level matches since turning professional in 2002. The 32 year old is currently No. 41 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Top Seeds Move Into Doubles Semi-Finals

Top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah downed Americans Nicholas Monroe and Donald Young to book a place in the doubles semi-finals. The Colombians landed 70 per cent of first serves and prevailed in 80 minutes. They will face third seeds Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky for a place in the final.

The winner of the semi-final clash will face second seeds Mate Pavic and Michael Venus for the title. Pavic/Venus teamed up to upend Swedes Johan Brunstrom and Andreas Siljestrom 7-6(6), 6-3 in 85 minutes in the semi-finals.