Michael Vrbenský during five-month breaks due to the coronavirus pandemic he triumphed at the OTS President’s Cup event and two weeks ago won the Svijany Open in Liberec, where he defeated Jiří Lehečka, Adam Pavlásk and Jonáš Forejtek.
The 20-year-old Czech is selling his play and good form these days on the first challenger after a long break on clay in Prague’s Štvanice, where he advanced to the semifinals of this tournament in this category for the first time.
In the first rounds, Vrbenský eliminated the German Daniel Masur and the Canadian Steven Diez, advanced from the round of 16 without a fight over the German favorite Philipp Kohlschreiber and in today’s quarterfinals, which he played on the challenger only for the second time, defeated the 6-2 3-6 6-4 Swede Eliase Ymera.
“It’s an incredible feeling. I’m really enjoying it here this week. It’s great,” Vrbenský rejoiced. “Today I played quite well, I pushed my opponent and finished it. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the second set I did not use a few breakballs,” he said in an interview with Tennis World.
In Friday’s fight for the final, Vrbenský can look forward to a duel with a very prestigious opponent. The 402nd player in the world will challenge the former world number three and the winners of three grand slam tournaments Stana Wawrinku.
The 35-year-old Swiss, who is currently the 17th tennis player in the ATP rankings, in Prague he also needed three sets in his third appearance on the way forward. However, in today’s quarterfinal duel with Indian Sumit Nagal, he did not stay on the court for a long time, when he won in an hour and 23 minutes 2-6 6-0 6-1.
The second semifinal pair was formed by the third seeded Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Rus Aslan Karacev.
| • Singles – Quarterfinals • |
| Vrbenský (Czech Republic)) – E. Ymer (SWE) 6-2 3-6 6-4 |
| Wawrinka (1-Swiss) – Nagal (IND) 2-6 6-0 6-1 |
| Herbert (3-Fr.) – T. Griekspoor (Niz.) 7-5 5-7 6-3 |
| Karacev (RUS) – Laaksonen (7-SWITZERLAND) 7-6 (3) 6-4 |
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