Eastbourne International seems to be getting to its climax with the quarterfinals rounding up and the draws for the semifinals almost complete. History was made with British player Billy Harris making his first ATP semifinal appearance.
Except for Tommy Paul and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Taylor Fritz is the only remaining seeded player from the top 8 still left in the tournament. The third and fourth seeds, Alexander Bublik and Sebastian Baez were knocked out in the second round.
The defending champion and fifth seed, Francisco Cerundolo, was knocked out in the first round alongside sixth and seventh seeds, Mariano Navone and Tomás Martín Etcheverry.
Billy Harris Enters First Ever ATP Semifinal
The Eastbourne International quarterfinal clash between Billy Harris and Flavio Cobolli was the second match in a row that the 29-year-old would have to come from behind to win a match at Eastbourne. It was also the first time he was facing a non-British opponent in the main draw.
Harris saved two break points in the third game of the first set and superbly held his serves to force a tiebreak. Cobolli dominated the tiebreak, holding four match points at a time. The Italian then took the set in the second attempt. In the second set, both players had to save a break point each in the fourth and fifth games with Cobolli saving another in the seventh game to hold his serve.
Harris saved two break points in the 12th game to force another tiebreak. The Brit came from behind to win a tiebreak that lasted over 10 minutes. Harris secured the advantage in their Eastbourne International clash in the fourth game when he broke Cobolli’s serve with a winner.
The Brit then capitalized on three unforced errors from Cobolli to break his serve again in the eighth game and win the match. This is Harris’ first-ever ATP tour-level semifinal. The match lasted two hours and 27 minutes.
Purcell Completes 1st Semifinal Draw
Max Purcell defeated Miomir Kecmanovic in the Eastbourne International quarterfinal to mark his fifth straight win in the competition, qualifying stages included. The clash was the first-ever meeting between the two of them. Eastbourne International is the 26-year-old Australian’s first semifinal of the year.
The Eastbourne clash started with a confident hold of serves from Max Purcell and Miomir Kecmanovic in the first three games. Purcell then turned up the heat on his Serbian opponent, firing three winners to break the Serb’s serve in three and a half minutes. Max Purcell went back to being dominant on serve to see out the set 6-3.
Max Purcell came out firing on all cylinders in the second set. He broke Miomir Kecmanovic’s serve in the third game. With a spot in the Eastbourne International semifinal slipping out of Kecmanovic’s grasp, the Serb came after Purcell’s serve in the 10th game, breaking his serve in the second attempt to tie the set at 5-5 and eventually forcing a tiebreak. Purcell overcame Kecmanovic in the tiebreak to book a clash with Billy Harris in the semifinal.
Vukic Into Eastbourne Semifinal
After defeating the Eastbourne International 3rd seed, Alexander Bublik, Aleksandar Vukic who entered the main draw as a lucky loser took on the qualifier that defeated America’s Marcos Giron, Yoshihito Nishioka.
The clash lasted two hours and seven minutes, with Vukic having to survive a second set fightback from Nishioka. Vukic would have to wait for the result of the Taylor Fritz and Juncheng Shang clash to know his semifinal opponent.
The Australian broke the Japanese player’s serve in the second game of the first set and held his serve to win the first set 6-3 in 28 minutes. Nishioka then forced a comeback in the sixth game of the second set, breaking Vukic’s serve on the first opportunity after opening a two-break point lead. The Japanese player went on to serve out the set 6-3.
Although the third set didn’t contain any breaks of serve, Vukic held three break points on Nishioka’s serve in the fourth game, and one in each of the eighth and 10th games. The set needed a tiebreak to separate them.
Yoshihito Nishioka opened a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak, and at 5-2, it looked like the Japanese player would reach the Eastbourne semifinals. Aleksandar Vukic then closed the gap to 5-5 before sealing the next two points to win the match.
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