Top-seeded Tommy Haas fought hard to defeat Russian qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov and reach the semi-finals of the Zagreb Indoors tournament on Friday, and will face Daniel Evans of Britain who upset No.3 seed Phillip Kohlschreiber from Germany.
Defending champion Marin Cilic also reached the semi-finals – his fourth in Zagreb – defeating fellow Croat Ivan Dodig, while his opponent will be German qualifier Bjorn Phau, who beat Dudi Sela of Israel 6-4 6-3 to reach his first semi in nearly five years.
Haas secured a place in his first semi-finals since winning Vienna last October, beating Kuznetsov 7-6 (8-6) 6-4. Both players kept their serve very solid during the first set and not a single game went to deuce.
Kuznetsov saved two set points before losing the first set, but Haas broke in the opening game of the second set and kept the advantage, having to save two break points leading 2-1.
“Winning the first set in the tie breaker was very important for the momentum,” Haas said.
This is the 13th career tournament for Haas being the top seed, but he has never reached the finals.
After reaching the quarter-finals for the first time at any ATP event, the British No.2, Evans, went one step further on Friday ousting Kohlschreiber 6-4 2-6 6-4.
Fifth-seeded Cilic, who triumphed in Zagreb in 2009, 2010 and 2013, converted four out of five break points to beat fourth-seeded Dodig 7-5 6-4 in 92 minutes.
Cilic started strong, leading 5-2 in the first set, before Dodig appeared to fight back winning three games in a row. But Cilic soon broke again before closing the first set.
Things turned around briefly in the second set, when Dodig was up 2-1 with a serve, but Cilic broke back immediately.
Proving to be too strong for his opponent, Cilic converted his second match point with a great passing shot.
“There were some ups and downs on both sides. Some great shots and some wrong decisions,” Cilic said.