Roger Federer on Thursday moved to within two wins of a 100th career title after coming through a tough test in difficult conditions against Marton Fucsovics to reach the Dubai Championships semi-finals.
The seven-time champion beat his Hungarian opponent 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 in gusting winds and brief rain delays.
“It was tricky. A couple of rain delays, especially one at 5-all, coming back with sort of no preparation,” Federer said. “The energy of the body, the adrenaline, tactics, all that stuff kind of fades away just a little bit in those rain delays.”
Photo: Reuters
Federer is to face Borna Coric after the Croatian sixth seed defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/1).
Earlier on Thursday, fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the last four as he defeated Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (1/7), 6-1 and set up a meeting with Gael Monfils.
France’s Monfils, who is to return to the world top 20 on Monday, battled into the semi-finals with a 6-1, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 win over qualifier Ricardas Berankis.
Tsitsipas had to dig deep to get past Hurkacz, going the distance in the first two sets and being broken when serving for the match before seeing off the world No. 77 after more than two-and-a-quarter hours.
“The breaks I got in the third set refreshed my mind. I was able to raise my level,” Tsitsipas said. “I knew that if I kept fighting, more chances would come — and they did.”
Unseeded Monfils, 32, said that he needed to get angry with himself to get over the line after missing chances to close out a straight-sets victory when a set up and leading the second 5-4.
“It was tough mentally. I was upset that I didn’t finish it [then]. I had to get angry to find the energy to come back,” he said.
In the end it took nearly two hours for Monfils to beat Berankis, ranked 113 in the world.
“The last three games was just pure anger. I was aggressive, but I was little bit worried,” Monfils said. “I wanted this match even more. The intensity, definitely it’s something positive.”
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College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Japan yesterday secured a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup finals appearance with a 2-1 win over 2023 champions Canada, thanks to Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino in the qualifying doubles decider. Shibahara and Aoyama powered through the opening set 6-3, breaking twice for a quick 3-0 lead. Cross and Marino hit back in the second, edging it 7-5 to level the match, before the Japanese pair regained control in the third. Canada’s 18-year-old Victoria Mboko edged Shibahara 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5 in a marathon opening clash. Mboko fired eight aces to
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