By Alberto Amalfi | Friday, April 29, 2016
Alexander Zverev upset top-seeded David Goffin and Philipp Kohlschreiber swept Juan Martin del Potro giving Germany two semifinalists in Munich.
Photo credit: BMW Open by FWU AG
Alexander Zverev unloaded a damaging serve to topple top-seeded David Goffin in Munich.
Zverev zapped 10 aces and won 16 of 19 points played on his serve in the final set scoring a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory.
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The win vaults Zverev into his fourth career semifinal.
“He’s been playing really well in the past months, making the semifinals of two Masters 1000 events, so it was nice to win,” Zverev said.
The eighth-seeded German will take on 22-year-old Dominic Thiem in a young guns semifinal shootout.
The third-seeded Thiem powered into his fourth semifinal of the season with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, decision over Ivan Dodig. Thiem, who won titles in Buenos Aires and Acapulco earlier this season, is playing for his seventh career final. He has won five of his six career title matches.
Thiem, who has worked to adopt more aggressive court positioning, showed some superb net skills in this exchange.
Fabio Fognini won a tight test to advance to his first semifinal of the season.
The fifth-seeded Italian fought off Jozef Kovalik, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.
Fognini, who fell to Martin Klizan in the 2014 Munich final, will meet fourth-seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber in tomorrow's second semifinal. Kohlschreiber did not drop serve dismissing 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, 6-4, 6-1.
The 27th-ranked Kohlschreiber has won three of four meetings with Fognini, including both of their clay-court clashes. Fognini's lone win came on the grass of Stuttgart where he beat Kohlschreiber in the 2013 final.