SEVILLA/STARNBERG, September 10, 2021

Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera of Chile upset top seed Pablo Andujar from Spain to reach the semi-finals of the 58th Copa Sevilla. The No. 7 seed of the €66,640 ATP Challenger Tour clay-court tournament secured a 7-6(1), 2-6, 6-4 win on Thursday evening on Pista Central of the Real Club de Tenis Betis.

In the pair’s first meeting, World No. 172 Barrios Vera capitalized on three of his six break-point chances and won one point more than his opponent to prevail after two hours and 30 minutes.

The 23-year-old South American will next take on third seed Roberto Carballes Baena. The World No. 95 from Spain ended the strong run of 19-year-old Italian qualifier Luciano Darderi, winning 7-5, 7-6(5). Carballes Baena withstood five aces and broke the teenager’s serve three times to advance in two hours and 19 minutes.

Martinez, Taberner advance

In an all-Spanish semi-final match, No. 2 seed Pedro Martinez will go head to head with No. 4 seed Carlos Taberner. Martinez defeated Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-4, 6-2. The 24-year-old from Valencia, who reached his first final on the ATP Tour at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel last month, outpointed his rival 73-56 after one hour and 35 minutes.

“I think I started being a bit nervous but I have been feeling very well and little by little I have ended up playing better than the whole week,” Martinez said. “The semi-final will be another difficult match, but let’s hope that the spectators continue to support us like these days and that we I can win the match.”

Taberner, also a Valencia resident, had to go the distance against Italian Gian Marco Moroni. The World No. 105 secured a 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 victory after three hours and eight minutes, the longest match of the day.

“I am very happy with the win today, it was a tough match against Moroni,” Taberner said. “I did not give up, having continued to fight for each point despite not having a great time on the court.”

Impresiones de @Carlos_Taberner tras ganar su duro partido ante Gian Marco Moroni y convertirse en el segundo semifinalista de la Copa Sevilla. #SevillaEsTenis pic.twitter.com/iqXROHPIYK

— Copa Sevilla (@CopaSevillaCh) September 9, 2021

Doubles final set

Friday’s action at the Copa Sevilla will start with the doubles final when No. 2 seeds David Vega Hernandez from Spain and Mark Vervoort from the Netherlands will take on the all-Spanish combination of Javier Barranco Cosano and Sergio Martos Gornes.

The encounter will start at 5 pm local time.