BENGALURU/STARNBERG, February 11, 2022
Qualifier Borna Gojo from Croatia continued his dream run at the Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger Tour 80 hard-court tournament as he stormed into the semi-finals with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over World No. 216 Kimmer Coppejans from Belgium on Friday.
Gojo struck 10 aces and won 77 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after one hour and 41 minutes. The 28-year-old will meet Frenchman Alexandre Muller in the stage of the final four after the latter downed a fighting Cem Ilkel of Turkey 6-4, 7-6(7) in another quarterfinal played at the KSLTA Stadium.
However, there was a huge disappointment for the tournament’s top seed and hot favourite Jiri Vesely from the Czech Republic, who had to retire in his match against his sixth-seeded rival Enzo Couacaud owing to severe stomach ache caused by food poisoning. Couacaud had won the first set 6-4 when Vesely threw the towel in. In the second semi-final, the 26-year-old Frenchman will clash with young Chun-hsin Tseng of Chinese Taipei who virtually silenced qualifier Brazilian Gabriel Decamps’ challenge with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in one hour and 57 minutes.
Sixth seed Frenchman @lacouac cruises into the men’s singles semifinals after top seed @jiri_vesely of Czech Republic withdrew owing to an upset stomach after he had lost the first set 4-6. Stay tuned for more live updates! pic.twitter.com/leCytdmJg8
— Bengaluru Tennis Open (@BlrTennisOpen) February 11, 2022
Meanwhile, the third seeded pair of Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan brought cheers to the Indian camp when they defeated the British-Australian combination of Jay Clarke and Marc Polmans 6-4, 6-4 to make it to the title round in the doubles event. They now meet the French pair of Hugo Grenier and Alexandre Muller who stunned second seeds Alexander Erler of Austria and Vit Kopriva from the Czech Repbulic with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
The Indian duo of @ramkumar1994 and @SakethMyneni
brought cheer to the indian camp by storming into the finals of the men‘s doubles event of the Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger after defeating the British-Australian combo of Jay Clarke and @marcpolmans 6-4, 6-4. pic.twitter.com/jNwRqjqnRI— Bengaluru Tennis Open (@BlrTennisOpen) February 11, 2022
Friday Results
Singles – Quarterfinals
Q-Borna Gojo (CRO) bt Kimmer Coppejans (BEL) 7-5, 6-4; Chun-hsin Tseng (TPE) bt Q-Gabriel Decamps (BRA) 6-4, 6-4; 6-Enzo Couacaud (FRA) bt 1-Jiri Vesely (CZE) 6-4, (retd); Alexandre Muller (FRA) bt Cem Ilkel (TUR) 6-4, 7-6 (7).
Doubles – Semi-finals
3-Saketh Myneni (IND)/Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Jay Clarke (GBR)/Marc Polmans (AUS) 6-4, 6-4; Hugo Grenier (FRA)/Alexandre Muller (FRA) bt 2-Alexander Erler (AUT)/Vit Kopriva (CZE) 6-3, 6-4.
