Tsitsipas, de Minaur reach Next Gen semifinals

[November 08, 2018]    Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas became the first player to guarantee his semifinals spot in the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, Italy, dispatching No. 3 seed Frances Tiafoe in straight sets, 4-3 (3), 4-3 (5), 4-2 on Wednesday.

Tsitsipas, a 20-year-old from Greece, won 78 percent of his service points against Tiafoe, a 20-year-old American, and saved two break points en route to a 70-minute victory.

Australia's Alex de Minaur became the second player assured of a place in the semis by beating 2017 finalist Andrey Rublev 4-1, 3-4 (5), 4-1, 4-2. De Minaur lost just three service points in the first set and was broken just once in the match. He also broke the Russian four times.

The United States' Taylor Fritz defeated home-crowd favorite Liam Caruana 1-4, 4-1, 4-3 (9), 4-2 to earn his first victory in Milan. Both players lost their openers on Tuesday.

Poland's Hubert Hurkacz beat Spaniard Jaume Munar in their first ATP meeting. The sixth seed battled five sets before beating Munar, 4-2, 4-2, 2-4, 3-4 (5), 4-1 to move to 1-1 in Group A play.

Hurkacz will face Tsitsipas on Thursday in the last day of round-robin action. The two have never faced off in a professional match. No. 2 seed de Minaur looks to complete round-robin play undefeated when he plays fourth seed Fritz. Rublev aims to earn his second win in Milan when he clashes against Caruana. Munar will look for his first win when he takes on Tiafoe.

The innovative format for players 21 and under, now in its second year, features shorter sets in which the first player to four games is the winner, with a tiebreaker at 3-3.

--Field Level Media

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