Alexander Bublik keeps cruising in Kitzbuhel—but his opponent today is 2-0 against him.
The Kazakh has won 15 of his last 17 matches, as well as 12 of his last 13 sets, but his opponent in the semifinals today, Botic van de Zandschulp, has won both of their previous meetings. The Dutchman has beaten some big names, too, including three huge ones in the last year alone—Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and even Rafael Nadal. The other semifinal is an all-French clash between two Arthurs, Rinderknech and Cazaux (the latter of which is trying to reach his first ATP final).
👉 Stream ATP Kitzbuhel here.
Three of the Top 4 seeds (and the man who took out the No. 1 seed) are in the Umag semis.
That’s No. 2 seed Luciano Darderi against No. 3 seed Camilo Ugo Carabelli and No. 4 seed Damir Dzumhur against Carlos Taberner (who took out No. 1 seed Francisco Cerundolo in the second round). They’re both first-time tour-level meetings, but both pairs have history below tour-level (Darderi leads Ugo Carabelli, 4-3, while Dzumhur and Taberner are tied 1-1). Darderi is the form player, having won the title in Bastad, Sweden last week and now looking for his eighth win in a row.
👉 Stream ATP Umag here.
Three Czechs—and maybe a fourth one—will play in the semis of the WTA event in Prague.
Top seed Linda Noskova is into her fourth straight semifinal in the Czech capital, and will try to reach the final for the second time in the last three years—she’ll play the winner of the suspended quarterfinal between China’s Wang Xinyu and Czech teenager Sara Bejlek (Wang won the first set, 6-4). Marie Bouzkova and Tereza Valentova are in the other semifinal, and it’s been a breakthrough week for 2024 Roland Garros junior champion Valentova, who’s into her very first WTA semifinal.
👉 Stream WTA Prague here.