Korda to face Paul in all-American semifinal in Parma

MATCH POINT: Tommy Paul reaches his first semifinal of the 2021 season.

PARMA, Italy (AP) — Sebastian Korda beat eighth-seeded Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday to set up an all-American semifinal against Tommy Paul at the Emilia-Romagna Open.

The 63rd-ranked Korda stormed into a 3-0 lead and never looked back as he reached his first clay-court semifinal.

"I played a great match. I know he has been playing really good tennis, he reached the semifinal in Lyon," the 20-year-old Korda said. "But it's my first semifinal on clay and I'm super happy."

Korda next faces the sixth-seeded Paul, who eased past fourth-seeded Jan-Lennard Struff 6-2, 6-4.

"I'm really good friends with Tommy," Korda said. "We practice together a lot. It's going to be a really fun match. He's been playing great, so hopefully it will be a fun one."

It will be their second tour-level meeting after Korda came back from a set down to beat Paul in Delray Beach in January on his way to the final.

Paul is the only seeded player left in Parma.

The other semifinal pits Marco Cecchinato — the only Italian left in the draw — against Jaume Munar of Spain.

The 80th-ranked Munar routed fifth-seeded Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-1 while Cecchinato beat Norbert Gombos 6-3, 6-1.