STARNBERG, December 4, 2020
Pedro Sousa of Portugal leads the semi-finals line-up at the Maia Open, the last ATP Challenger event of the season held on European soil. The No. 2 seed of the €44,820 clay-court tournament in Portugal battled past Kimmer Coppejans of Belgium 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in his quarterfinal match on Friday.
Home favourite Sousa sent down six aces and won 71 per cent of his first-service points to advance in one hour and 36 minutes.
“I am happy because the main objective was to win. We both have a similar game, returning better than serving. There were a couple of long rallies and it was a pretty even match,” Sousa said.
The 32-year-old from Lisbon will next face Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain, who outlasted No. 4 seed Henri Laaksonen from Switzerland 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in one hour and 48 minutes.
In the top half of the draw, qualifier Duje Ajdukovic has booked spot in the semi-final of a Challenger event for the second time after the inaugural Split Open in early October. The 19-year-Croatian eased past Andrea Arnaboldi of Italy 6-3, 6-0. Ajdukovic capitalized on six of his eight break-point chances to seal victory in 61 minutes. The teenager from Split will next take on No. 8 seed Carlos Taberner. The 23-year-old Spaniard beat No. 3 seed and Maia Open defending champion Jozef Kovalik from Slovakia 7-6(1), 6-1 in one hour and 48 minutes.
#MaiaOpen SFs (Challenger semi-finals):
🇭🇷 Duje Ajdukovic (2) vs. 🇪🇸 Carlos Taberner (15)
🇪🇸 Bernabé Zapata Miralles (8) vs. 🇵🇹 Pedro Sousa (27) pic.twitter.com/cOQwFAWduD— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) December 4, 2020
