By Alberto Amalfi | Thursday, November 9, 2023
No. 2-seeded Adrian Mannarino fought off Sebastian Ofner 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-3 battling into his fourth semifinal of the season at the Sofia Open.
Photo credit: Kazakhstan Tennis Federation Facebook
Beneath the closed roof of the Arena Sofia, Adrian Mannarino is soaring toward a career-high.
The second-seeded Mannarino fought off Sebastian Ofner 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-3 battling into his fourth semifinal of the season at the Sofia Open.
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Mannarino converted five of 16 break points in a two hour, 38-minute victory.
The French left-hander improved to 41-24 on the season—he's the first Frenchman since Gael Monfils in 2016 to score 40 wins in a single season—including a perfect 4-0 mark in ATP semifinals this year.
The victory vaults Mannarino to No. 23 in the ATP Live Rankings,which is one spot short of his career-high rank of No. 22.
Newport and Astana champion Mannarino will play continue his hunt for a third title of the season.
The left-handed Mannarino will meet either No. 8-seeded Marton Fucsovics or Pavel Kotov for a spot in Saturday's final.
Two of the four semifinalists are left handed.
Earlier, British lefty Jack Draper won 23 of 26 first-serve points and pumped six aces defeating Turkish wild card Cem Ilkel 6-2, 6-2.
It is the second semifinal of the season for Draper, who reached the final four at Adelaide-2 last January.
The sixth-seeded Draper will face Jan-Lennard Struff for a spot in the final.
No. 3-seeded Struff slammed 13 aces edging Fabian Marozsan 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 to reach his 12th career semifinal, including his third semifinal of the season.