ATP Doha: Tomas Berdych is back! Bautista Agut downs Wawrinka
Competing in his first tournament since June and Queen's, 2015 Doha finalist Tomas Berdych is back in the semi-final for the fourth time at this tournament after a 6-2 6-4 win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert in just 71 minutes. Struggling with a back injury, the 33-year-old Czech had to miss the second part of 2018 and he has found the form early on in the new season, dropping just 11 points in nine service games and fending off both break points he faced to keep the pressure on Herbert who failed to match those numbers behind his initial shot. The Frenchman lost 42% of the points in his games and he suffered three breaks from six chances to hit the exit door in the quarter-final following a triumph over the 2nd seed Dominic Thiem.
Berdych was on a roll in the opening set, losing four points on serve and winning five consecutive points on the return at 1-1 to forge an early lead. Herbert suffered another break in game five and he had to save two set points at 1-5, repelling them to at least prolong the set for one more game. Serving for the set, Tomas fired three service winners for a 6-2 after 29 minutes and he grabbed another break at the start of the second set after a deep return that Pierre-Hugues failed to control. Berdych saved two break points in the fourth game with booming serves and he cemented the triumph with four unreturned serves at 5-4 to book the place in the semi-final, thrilled with the way he performed in the opening three opening matches here in Doha.
The 7th seed Roberto Bautista Agut is playing in Doha for the first time since 2012 and he will battle in the semi-final after a 6-4 6-4 win over Stan Wawrinka in an hour and 45 minutes. Stan won their previous match in 2016 but he was far from repeating that today, losing more than 40% in his games and facing 14 break points. Bautista Agut scored two breaks and he controlled the scoreboard after saving all three break points he had to play against, taming his shots nicely and prevailing over Stan in the shortest points to march towards the semi-final.
The Swiss had to chase the result right from the start, getting broken in the opening game and facing three set points at 3-5. He saved them all to extend the set, winning five straight points and bringing the game home with an ace before the Spaniard completed the set with a service winner in the following game for a 6-4 after 49 minutes. Bautista Agut broke at love in the first game of the second set and he wasted plenty of break points in the middle of the set that could have pushed him closer to the finish line. Determined to fight for every point, Wawrinka saved seven break points and he had a chance to make the match much more interesting after three break points he created in the 10th game when Roberto served for the win. The Spaniard erased the deficit with three winners, hitting a forehand winner after a great rally for the first match point and landing an ace to reach the last four.
Quarter-final results:
[7]Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) vs Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 6-4 6-4 [4]Marco Cecchinato (ITA) vs Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 7-6(2) 6-2 [WC]Tomas Berdych (CZE) vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) 6-2 6-4
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2AuPf1Q
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