The Libema Open championship continued at Autotron Rosmalen in Rosmalen, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands on Friday. Heavy rains initially led to games being suspended briefly, but they later resumed. With the weather growing increasingly unfavorable, Ugo Humbert’s clash with Gijs Brouwer got suspended at a 4-6, 5-2 score till tomorrow.
In the earlier matches of the day, the Libema Open’s defending champion had yet another opportunity to keep his title defense alive against a dogged opponent, while the top seed showed glimpses of why he’s in the ATP rankings top 10. Another top-billing clash involved two promising Americans, the Libema Open’s second and seventh seeds.
Korda Wins The Battle Of The Americans
The second seed of the Libema Open, Tommy Paul, clashed with the seventh seed, a fellow American, Sebastian Korda in the quarterfinal at center court. Both players started the match putting fascinating skills on display. In the third game of the first set, Korda sent a backhand return from Tommy Paul’s serve down the line to break the second seed’s serve.
After consolidating his serve in the next game, Korda then capitulated two games later, sending a backhand volley long to gift Tommy Paul a break back to get back into the set. Korda then stepped up his return game in the very next game to steal another break of Paul’s serve and lead 4-3. Sebastian Korda took the first set 6-4.
Korda went on to extend his advantage in the Libema Open quarterfinal clash over his fellow American with a second-set break of Paul’s serve in the third game when Paul’s forehand volley went long.
Sebastian Korda kept his foot on the gas, pushing Tommy Paul into gifting him the match with Paul’s third double fault of the match gifting Korda another break to lead 5-2. Korda then served for the set, winning to love with an overhead smash that sent him to the Libema Open semifinal in the Netherlands.
Alex De Minaur Into 3rd Semifinal Of 2024
The top seed of the Libema Open, Alex De Minaur, was looking to continue his exciting season by overcoming 33-year-old Canadian, Milos Raonic in the quarterfinal. Beating the Canadian sent Alex De Minaur to his third semifinal of the year, with the hopes of a third final following his final defeat in Rotterdam to Jannik Sinner and his Mexican Open win over Casper Ruud.
Both players played excellent rallies all through the set, with Alex De Minaur fascinating as usual with his court coverage and Milos Raonic covering the net well. However, when Raonic advanced to the net looking to save a breakpoint in the 11th game of the first set, De Minaur capitalized and swatted past him a forehand winner down the line to break his serve.
After a tenacious performance to win the first set 7-5, De Minaur turned up the volume of his performance in the second set. The Australian broke the Canadian’s serve in the fifth game to love after the Canadian hit a forehand shot long. Another break after and Alex De Minaur served out the match to win 7-5, 6-2 and book his place in the Libema Open’s semifinals.
Griekspoor Libema Open Title-Defense Still Alive
The defending champion, Tallon Griekspoor, the tournament’s seventh seed, was still in contention to defend his Libema Open title. In the quarterfinal, he was paired with Aleksandar Vukic. Things didn’t seem to be going according to plan for the seventh seed when he served a double fault in the ninth game of the first set to gift Vukic a break of his serve.
Losing the first set 4-6 seemed to galvanize Tallon Griekspoor. His Libema Open title defense sparked back to life in the second set. He commanded the net in the second set leading to two breakpoints in the sixth game. A passing crosscourt forehand eventually produced the break of Vukic’s serve. Griekspoor went on to serve out the set 6-3 to equalize.
Griekspoor almost threw away the comeback in the third set and struggled to save a few breakpoints in the set’s sixth game. The match eventually dragged past two hours into a tiebreak which Griekspoor eventually won to keep his Libema Open title defense alive.
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