DOHA, January 9, 2020
Miomir Kecmanovic is the first semi-finalist of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. On a rain-interrupted Thursday in Doha, the 20-year-old from Serbia eased past Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics 6-2, 6-0 to reach the stage of the last four on the ATP Tour for the fifth time.
Kecmanovic capitalized on four of his five break point chances and converted his first match point after only 55 minutes just moments before the next shower arrived at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
Even though DAY 4 was a rainy one, we welcome @miomirk to the semi-finals, and we are looking forward to the following matches tomorrow! ☔️ #qemo2020 #qatarexxonmobilopen2020 #qatartennis pic.twitter.com/AEL9HSKljq
— Qatar Tennis Fed. (@QatarTennis) January 9, 2020
“It was pretty good timing,” Kecmanovic smiled in his press conference afterwards. “It’s good that I was able to finish the match before this happened.”
The NextGen ATP Star will next take on the winner of the encounter between No. 2 seed Andrey Rublev from Russia and Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
“I played him (Rublev) a long time ago in juniors, but I haven’t played him since then,” Kecmanovic commented on a possible clash with the World No. 23. “It would definitely be an exciting match. But he still has to win tomorrow.”
Kecmanovic: Off-season in the desert
The Belgrade native only had a short trip to kick off his season in Qatar. “I was in Dubai for a month, so definitely I’m starting to feel at home here,” Kecmanovic said.
“I was practicing with Roger, Novak and Karen. So it was definitely a good group of guys to practice with. I definitely think I’ve maybe, like, speed up my game a little bit because they take time away for you. I think I’ve kind of got a little bit used to it and maybe it’s now a little bit easier to play against some of the other guys.”
Busy day tomorrow in Doha
Due to inclement weather all other quarterfinals had to be postponed to Friday. Spanish veteran and Doha resident Fernando Verdasco will open the action on Center Court taking on in-form French qualifier Corentin Moutet followed by top seed Stan Wawrinka facing Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia.
The semi-finals are scheduled later in the evening.
