Bautista Agut Reaches Antwerp Semifinals By Handling Pressure Best

Roberto Bautista Agut
Roberto Bautista Agut (photo: ATP Tour video)

ANTWERP/WASHINGTON, October 18, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

Roberto Bautista Agut has reached the semifinals of an ATP Tour event in 12 consecutive seasons. The consistency that the quiet, hard-working Spaniard brings to the game is unquestionable. Also, the way the 36-year-old tour veteran handles pressure speaks volumes.

Friday afternoon, at the European Open inside Lotto Arena, the 60th-ranked Bautista Agut earned his place in the last four of the ATP 250 indoor hard-court event in Antwerp in dramatic fashion. In a tension-filled finish that was decided by a third-set tie-break, he defeated 21st-ranked Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6), in two hours and 42 minutes to advance to Saturday’s semifinal round. It’s the 46th career semifinal for Baustisa Agut and first since Halle last year.

Into his first semifinal of the 2024 season, Bautista Agut will face No. 77 Hugo Gaston of France, who earned his first career Top-10 win with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 upset victory over World No. 9 and top seed Alex de Minaur of Australia.

With Auger-Aliassime serving at 6-7 in the tie-break, Bautista Agut garnered the win on his fourth match-point opportunity, after the 24-year-old Canadian netted a backhand return that halted an 11-shot rally and out an end to the quarterfinal match.

As soon as Bautista Agut had secured the victory, his 22nd of the season and second-best by ranking, the stoic but smart Spaniard broke out a big smile on his face and soaked in the applause from the crowd. His victory denied Auger-Aliassime a chance at a second European Open title after winning his first one in 2022.

“I’m very happy, no?” Bautista Agut said in his on-court interview. “It was a really good match for my side. … I just kept playing my best tennis. I really enjoyed — I played a good level today. I got a little nervous but this is tennis, no? … Finally, I got the last point.”

Auger-Aliassime, who hit seven of his 19 aces and 14 of his 41 winners in the first set, won many of the biggest and most crucial points against Bautista in the early going. He closed out the opener 6-4 with a forehand winner that capped a seven-shot rally and saved all four break-points he faced, including in the set-deciding game.

Then, Bautista Agut, the oldest quarterfinalist in tournament history, went to work and turned the match around in the final two sets. He broke Auger-Aliassime in the final game of the second set to win 6-2. Later, ahead 4-3 and on serve in the decider, he broke the Canadian at love for a 5-3 lead. However, Auger-Aliassime rallied to win three of the next four games to get the match to a tiebreaker. It was in the tie-break, though, that Bautista Agut dealt with the pressure moments the best — and eventually prevailed.

Throughout the match, Bautista Agut handled his second serve and returns on Auger-Aliassime’s second serve best, winning more than 50 percent of the points on both sides of the net. Points were even at the end with each player securing 105 points. Bautista Agut hit 21 winners and benefited from 58 unforced errors by his opponent.

“This is why I love tennis, why I keep working hard, said Bautista Agut, who earlier this season recorded his 400th career tour-level triumph. “I wake up every morning with a very good attitude to play these kinds of match. I enjoy playing here. I’m very happy to be through to the semifinals.”

Gaston earns first Top-10 triumph

French lefty Hugo Gaston, ranked 77th, pulled off the upset of the tournament with his 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory over World No. 9 and top seed Alex de Minaur of Australia in Friday’s second quarterfinal.

Gaston did not earn a break point between the fourth game of the first set and the final game of the match, yet he won and earned his first win against a Top-10 opponent.

“It was really close. Alex is such a great player, playing unbelievable tennis this year and in the past few years,” Gaston said in his in-court interview, after securing his first win in five tries against a Top-10 opponent. “When you play against Alex, you have to be ready to play a lot of rallies. I have a little bit of pain in my body, but I tried to stay focused on the game and on my shots, and it was a good one today.”

Gaston, 2-0 lifetime against de Minaur, hit 36 winners and converted three of four break points during the two-hour, nine-minute match. He was outpointed by de Minaur 90-89.

Lehecka takes out Tsitsipas

Fifth seed Jiri Lehecka recorded his third consecutive straight-set win this week in Antwerp — this time, his victim was World No 11 and second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 6-4, 6-4, in one hour and 24 minutes Friday evening.

Lehecka hit 19 winners, won 91 percent of his first serve points and converted two of seven break-point chances. He did not face any break points on his serve. Lehecka outpointed Tsitsipas, who was a semifinalist a year ago, 68-56.

Next, Lehecka will face No. 8 seed Marcos Giron of the United States, who beat No. 69 Zizou Bergs of Belgium, 6-2, 6-2, in Saturday’s semifinal round.

The 47th-ranked Giron hit 16 winners and saved both break points he faced  during the 74-minute quarterfinal. He outpointed Bergs 66-42.

Around the European Open

Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler of Austria advanced to their third final of the season after defeating Sander Arends of the Netherlands and Luke Johnson of Great Britain, 6-4, 1-6, 10-6, in an hour and 10 minutes on Centre Court.

The unseeded Austrian duo won 69 percent of their service points and converted one of three break points. Despite being outpointed 57-47, they leveled their 2024 win-loss record at 21-21.

Erler and Miedler will face either Robin Haase and David Pel of the Netherlands or Robert Galloway of the United States and Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan, who play Saturday, in Sunday’s European Open doubles final.

Friday’s European Open results

Saturday’s European Open order of play

By the numbers

With his 6-3, 6-4 triumph Thursday night, 25-year-old Zizou Bergs became only the third Belgian player to reach the quarterfinals of the European Open, following David Goffin (2016-17, 2022) and Ruben Bemelmans (2017).

“Quotable …”

“I do think I do want to play better, to be honest. …I’m working on stuff. I had to do a little better today [against Sebastian], I had to be more aggressive, I had to play a little bit more forward. I think when things are going well, we can be very happy. I also think we need to be true to ourselves.”

— No. 69 Zizou Bergs of Belgium, during his on-court interview Thursday night after defeating No. 4 seed Sebastian Baez.

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