ATP roundup: Past champ Radu Albot reaches Delray Beach semis

 

[February 18, 2023]  Radu Albot, who earned the only ATP Tour championship of his career at the Delray Beach (Fla.) Open four years ago, is back in the event's semifinals.

The 113th-ranked Moldovan routed second-seeded Tommy Paul of the United States 6-2, 6-2 on Friday to reach a tour semifinal for the first time since 2021.

Albot's semifinal foe will be fourth-seeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, who defeated Marcos Giron of the U.S. 7-6 (5), 6-3 in 94 minutes.

The other Saturday matchup will be an all-United States affair. Top-seeded Taylor Fritz, who got past France's Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (8), will oppose Mackenzie McDonald, who rallied past countryman Michael Mmoh 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. McDonald is one win away from his second career tour final. He lost the title match at Washington in 2021.

Argentina Open

Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, playing his first tournament of the year, reached the semifinals in Buenos Aires thanks to a 6-4, 6-2 win over Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic.

Alcaraz, back after he was sidelined by an oblique muscle injury, won 70 percent of his first-serve points (23 of 33) while Lajovic wound up at 48 percent (21 of 44) in that category.

Alcaraz will oppose Spanish countryman Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the semifinals. Zapata Miralles slipped past fifth-seeded Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

Second-seeded Cameron Norrie of Great Britain overtook Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 to earn a semifinal matchup against Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas, who upset third-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-4.

ABN AMRO Open

The only two seeded players remaining at Rotterdam, Netherlands, squared off in the quarterfinals, and sixth-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev emerged with a 6-2, 6-4 win over third-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Medvedev picked on Auger-Aliassime's second serve, winning 18 of 27 points, while the Russian won 13 of 19 points on his own second serve.

Up next for Medvedev is a semifinal match against Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov, who edged Australia's Alex de Minaur 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (6). de Minaur led 3-1 in the final set and also had two match points in the decisive tiebreaker before Dimitrov rallied.

The Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor will have the home crowd behind him in his semifinal against Italy's Jannik Sinner. Griekspoor defeated countryman Gijs Brouwer 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, while Sinner crushed Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3.

--Field Level Media

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