Quentin Halys continued his remarkable run through the Generali Open by beating Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 7-6 (2) to reach the final in Kitzbuhel, Austria.
Halys, who knocked off No. 2 seed Valentin Vacherot early on in this event, advanced to his second tour-level final behind 11 aces against three double faults. The Frenchman won a resounding 94.1% of his first-serve points (32 of 34), faced just one break point and amassed 10 break chances, converting two, on his German opponent’s serve. He squandered eight second-set match points before comfortably winning the tiebreaker.
He’ll again have his hands full in the final against Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, who is seeking a repeat title in the tournament. The top seed beat Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-4, breaking his opponent’s serve in the first return game of both sets and never being especially threatened.
Bublik won last year’s Generali Open without dropping a set and still hasn’t dropped a set in this year’s edition.
Estoril Open
World No. 78 Luca Van Assche stunned top-seeded Andrey Rublev with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback win to reach his first tour-level semifinal in Portugal.
Van Assche snapped the Russian’s six-match winning streak, overcoming an early siege. After he saved 9 of 10 break points in the first set, he faced just one break point over the final two sets. In the deciding third set, he converted the only break-point chance at 1-1 and saved one break point up 5-4 before securing the victory two points later.
He’ll face Hugo Gaston in an all-French semifinal after Gaston beat Tiago Torres of Portugal 6-3, 6-4. Gaston had just one ace and won just 61.8% of his first-serve points but came out comfortably on top thanks in part to Torres’ seven double faults.
No. 2 Luciano Darderi of Italy will face No. 4 Alexander Blockx of Belgium in the other semifinal. Darderi overcame a slow start to beat Portugal’s Jaime Faria 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, while Blockx outlasted Roman Andres Burruchaga of Argentina 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
–Field Level Media
