LILLE, March 22, 2019

The semi-finals of the Play In Challenger Lille are set with No. 2 seed Yannick Maden of Germany and defending champion Gregoire Barrere leading the line-up of the €46,600 hard-court event in the stage of the final four.

Barrere remained untroubled during his 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinals victory over Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev. The World No. 120, who lifted the ATP Challenger trophy on home soil in Quimper last month, won 76 per cent of his first service points and 55 per cent of the total points played to advance in one hour and 18 minutes.

“I enjoy the atmosphere at the tournament here and I hope to return to the final,” Barrere stated in an interview ahead of the tournament.

Barrere will next take on No. 15 seeded Austrian Sebastian Ofner, who defeated Norbert Gombos of Slovakia 6-3, 7-5 in one hour and 29 minutes.

Earlier on Friday, Maden eased past Jan Choinski from Great Britain 6-3, 6-3. The World No. 108 from Germany converted five of his 11 break point chances to advance in one hour and 27 minutes. Maden will face No. 13 seeded Frenchman Quentin Halys. The 22-year-old from Boulogne-Billancourt fired 17 aces to overcome Tobias Kamke of Germany 7-6(2), 6-2. The encounter lasted one hour and 33 minutes.