(Tennis news) Jiri Lehecka is on a mission at Rotterdam as he sets up a semifinal clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas. Lehecka got a lucky break in the 8th game of the first set as Lorenzo Musetti hit a forehand long and the 20 year old was getting almost all of his first serves in as there were only 5 points in the second serve.
In the second set, Musetti saved all 5 breakpoints on his serve in the first game and had the right touch at the net which wrong footed the qualifier. The Italian only lost one game in the set as he took a 2-0 lead in the final set but was blown away by Lehecka after the first 4 games. The world number 137 hit 4 aces, 12 winners to win the set in 59 minutes as he advanced to the last four.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is yet to lose a match against Alex de Minaur and for the 7th time it was the Australian who ended up on the losing side. Tsitsipas’ fastest first serve was timed at 213 km/ hour as he only lost one point in the first set and somehow found a way to hit strokes so fast that even Alex could not get to it. One of the fastest players on tour, Alex could not figure how to answer the volleys by his opponent as he covered the baseline like usual. Tsitsipas defeated Alex 6-4, 6-4.
“I took my time, I tried to understand what works for me and what doesn’t, and with the right momentum, with the right intention, things kind of paid off," said Tsitsipas. "I was able to get ahead in the score, which gave me a lot of confidence, and I think my serve was very good today, it gave me a lot of points and applied a lot of pressure to him."
Andrey Rublev only lost three points on serve in the first set against Marton Fucsovics as the Russian seemed to be in his best form. Rublev’s average first serve speed was 200 km/ hour and did not give Fucsovics much time to come at the net to finish the rallies early. The 29 year old is yet to record a victory over the defending champion in three set matches and had lost to Rublev in the final here last year. The world number 7 will be up against Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in the final. Rublev defeated Fucsovics 6-4, 6-3.
Felix can record a first victory over Rublev if he plays in the same level as the semifinal match against Cameron Norrie. The Canadian now has 10 wins this season but has been one of the rising stars over the past few tournaments. Norrie did his part but couldn’t remotely think of winning the match against the 21 year old as everytime an opportunity occurred it was broken to pieces by Felix. The world number 9 hit 42 winners of which 27 came in the second set and the forehand will have to be the same in the semifinal as the firepower it had was too good to be missed. Felix defeated Norrie 7-5, 7-6(7-4).
Also read: Felix maintains clean slate against Murray at Rotterdam
