AUGSBURG/STARNBERG, August 28, 2023

Two Spaniards have reached the semi-finals of the Schwaben Open in Augsburg, Germany. Carlos Taberner defeated Italian qualifier Gianmarco Ferrari 6-4, 6-1 in Thursday’s stage of the last eight.

On a sunny and hot day with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius at the TC Augsburg Siebentisch, the 26-year-old from Valencia broke his rival’s serve five times and won 57 per cent of the total points played to advance in one hour and 35 minutes.

“Yesterday I played a long match, which lasted more than three hours. Today I showed a decent performance from start to finish,” said Taberner. “I played the last tournament here four years ago. When I saw that the event is back on the calendar, I chose to play here again. I like the conditions and I also enjoy playing in Germany. Everything here is nice.”

Taberner is currently ranked World No. 361 but reached a career-high of 85 in May last year. “I couldn’t find my rhythm this year because of an injury. But I work hard every day to get back to my best. I go day by day and let’s see what’s going to happen,” he said.

Taberner will next take on No. 7 seed Timo Stodder of Germany, who benefited from the retirement of second favourite Benjamin Hassan from Lebanon, leading 4-6, 7-6(4), 5-3.

In the top half of the draw, Taberner will be joined by his compatriot Oriol Roca Batalla in the semi-finals of the €36,000 ATP Challenger Tour clay-court event. The 30-year-old Barcelona native defeated Nino Serdarusic of Croatia 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 51 minutes. Roca Batalla will face Brazilian qualifier Nicolas Zanellato, a 7-5, 6-1 winner over Moez Echargui of Tunisia. The encounter lasted one hour and 30 minutes.

Welcome to the final four, Nicolas Zanellato 👋

The 21-year-old takes down Echargui 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the first Challenger semifinal of his career in Augsburg#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/ZGVJ6TiVmb

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 24, 2023