ANTALYA, June 27, 2019
Jordan Thompson continued his good run of form on grass by reaching the semi-finals of the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya on another sunny and hot day at Belek. The No. 3 seeded Australian remains the highest-ranked player in the ATP 250 event.
Thompson, who finished runner-up at the Libema Open in s’Hertogenbosch two weeks ago, was leading 7-5, 1-0 when fifth seed and defending champion Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina was forced to retire due to a stomach complaint.
“Although I opened the match with a double fault, I served with a high percentage today. I also returned well and made him play. However, the conditions are still tough, playing longer rallies is brutal,” Thompson told Tennis TourTalk after the 66 minutes lasting encounter.
“You need to keep out of the sun when you’re not playing. When you’re playing points, there is no escaping. It’s pretty hot the whole day here until the sun goes down.”
Thompson, currently ranked on a career high World No. 45 has had a great season so far. He advanced to the quarterfinals at Sydney, New York and Houston and earned 20 tour-level wins in 2019 after posting only one win last year.
“I have a lot of confidence this year, playing more tour-level matches rather than ATP Challengers. I am ranked inside the Top 50, which was my goal. But I want to keep pushing forward and hopefully keep moving up the rankings.”
Next up for Thompson will be Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, who emerged victorious from the all-Serbian affair with qualifier Viktor Troicki. The 19-year-old won 6-3, 6-4 after one hour and 11 minutes to reach his first semi-final on the ATP Tour.
Carreno gets used to the grass
Pablo Carreno Busta
Later in the afternoon, Pablo Carreno Busta secured his second match win on grass with a 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Aussie Bernard Tomic.
The No. 4 seed from Spain fired 18 aces, breaking his opponent’s serve three times to prevail after two hours and three minutes.
“It’s the first time that I have reached the semi-finals on grass, so it’s very special,” said Carreno Busta, as quoted on the ATP Tour website. “He played better than me in the first set, but afterwards I tried to be aggressive by coming to the net and finishing the points at the net. I’m really happy. “
Carreno Busta will next take on Lorenzo Sonego from Italy, who knocked off last year’s finalist Adrian Mannarino of France, winning 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 in two hours and 25 minutes.
In Friday’s doubles final Jonathan Erlich from Israel and Artem Sitak of New Zealand will face Denys Molchanov from the Ukraine and Igor Zelenay of Slovakia.
