ATP Queen's: Feliciano Lopez, Daniil Medvedev and Gilles Simon hit semis
The 2017 Queen's champion Feliciano Lopez is through to the semi-final after a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory over Milos Raonic in two hours and 16 minutes. The Spanish veteran is the oldest player in the semi-final at Queen's since Pancho Gonzales in 1972 (at the age of 44) and this result secured a wild card for Wimbledon for him, not ranked highly enough to enter the main draw directly. It was the eighth meeting between Lopez and Raonic and the fifth win for the Spaniard who went through here at Queen's a year ago as well when Milos gave him a walkover. As was expected between two great servers, there were only two breaks of serve in the entire encounter and Raonic was the one who grabbed two points more than Lopez in the end, not the most important ones, though, losing the deciding tie break 7-5. Milos was the better player in the opening set, serving well and securing it with a break in game ten after a double fault from Lopez.
A left-hander moved in front with an early break in set number two when Raonic netted a forehand, repelling two break points in game four and clinching the set with a service winner at 5-4 to set up a decider. There were no break points up for grabs in the decider and the veteran had more strength in the tie break, delivering three mini-breaks and moving over the top when Milos sent a backhand into the net in the 12th point. The 4th seed Daniil Medvedev becomes the first Russian in the semi-final at Queen's following a commanding 6-2, 6-2 win over Diego Schwartzman in an hour and 16 minutes. With 24 winners and 18 unforced errors, Daniil kept the points on his racquet, dominating with his serve and backhand that worked like a charm, stealing Schwartzman's thunder from the baseline and more than half of the return points for four breaks.
Diego created four chances and couldn't convert any, losing ground against the powerful shots of his opponent who had the upper hand all the time. Medvedev grabbed a break in the very first game of the match with a forehand winner, moving 4-1 in front when the Argentine hit a double fault in game five. The Russian repelled three break points in game six, sealing the opener with an unreturned serve at 5-2. Just like in the first set, Daniil stole rival's serve in games one and five in the second set and moved over the top with another booming serve in the eighth game to book the place in the semis.
In one of the longest three-setters on grass, Gilles Simon toppled a qualifier Nicolas Mahut 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 in three hours and 20 minutes, prevailing in the deciding tie break to celebrate in marathon match and advance into the last four for the second time after 2015. Both players had to play against 13 break points and it was Mahut who earned three breaks, not enough to carry him through after losing both tie breaks, coming from a break down in the latest stages of the encounter before Simon crossed the finish line first when Nicolas sent a backhand long at 3-6 in the deciding tie break.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2Ixv2wM
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