By Tennis Now | Thursday, March 1, 2018
No. 3-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut beat Borna Coric, 7-6 (4), 6-4, to burst into his second semifinal of the season at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Photo credit: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Dubai will crown a new champion this weekend.
Roberto Bautista Agut is playing like a man intent on imposing his say in the championship conversation.
More: Wawrinka Out of Indian Wells, Miami
Bautista Agut served 71 percent and faced just two break points defeating Borna Coric, 7-6 (4), 6-4, to burst into his second semifinal of the season at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The third-seeded Spaniard will face Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri for a spot in the final.
The 34-year-old Jaziri continued his inspired run through the draw knocking off Greek wild card Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
The 117th-ranked Jaziri, who shocked top-seeded Grigor Dimitrov for his first career Top 10 victory in his opener, converted two of three break points against the talented 19-year-old Tsitsipas, who was contesting his first career ATP 500-level quarterfinal.
The 29-year-old Bautista Agut beat Coric for the fourth time in five meetings despite some tremendous defensive digs like this one from the 50th-ranked Croatian.
Bautista Agut, who opened the season defeating Juan Martin del Potro in the Auckland final for his seventh career title, is bidding for his 14th final.
No. 2-seeded Lucas Pouille continued his run of recent good form.
Pouille rallied past eighth-seeded Yuichi Sugita, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, charging into his third semifinal in five tournaments this season.
The 15th-ranked Frenchman, who won his fifth career title in Montpellier last month, is playing for his second straight final.
Pouille fell to sometime practice partner Karen Khachanov in the Marseille final on Sunday before avenging that defeat in Dubai yesterday.
The 24-year-old Pouille will play either No. 7-seeded Filip Krajinovic of Serbia or Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy for a spot in the final.