Haase Finds Form, Upsets Goffin In Gstaad
Haase Finds Form, Upsets Goffin In Gstaad
Bautista Agut, Fognini to face off in SF
Robin Haase came alive in The Alps once more, just as he has done in two previous runs to the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad final, when the Dutchman ended David Goffin’s bid for a third ATP World Tour title on Friday.
Haase began in fine style by breaking for a 2-0 lead, and while his top-seeded Belgium opponent stayed in contention, World No. 50 Haase won seven straight games from 5-5 in the first set en route to a 7-5, 6-1 victory in 81 minutes. It was his first win in four meetings against Goffin, the 2015 runner-up (l. to Thiem).
“Today it was a bit more windy and we were both a bit nervous at the beginning,” said Haase. “I really enjoy the conditions here and I’m happy to be back in the semi-finals.”
Sixth seed Haase, the 2013 (l. to Youzhny) and 2016 finalist (l. to Lopez), now faces qualifier Yannick Hanfmann. The World No. 170 could not convert two set point opportunities in the first set, but bounced back to knock out eighth seed Joao Sousa 6-7(10), 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 56 minutes. Hanfmann, who has played just eight tour-level matches, could not seal set point chances at 7/6 and 9/8 in the first set tie-break.
Second seed Roberto Bautista Agut lost just six of his first-service points to beat Denis Istomin 6-3, 6-4 in 80 minutes to improve to a 31-12 match record in 2017. “Today, the conditions were a bit faster than the other days and Denis played aggressively,” said Bautista Agut. “I will prepare and rest well for tomorrow.”
The Spaniard next faces fourth seed Fabio Fognini, who broke Ernests Gulbis three times to advance 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in one hour and 50 minutes. Gulbis had led their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-1, including 2-0 on clay, before Friday.
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Marach/Oswald Advance To Doubles Final
Second-seeded Austrians Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald booked their place in the Gstaad final by beating third seeds Roman Jebavy and Matwe Middelkoop 6-3, 6-3 in 60 minutes. Marach, 15-21 in doubles finals, partnered Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi to the 2015 title match (l. to Bury-Istomin). Oswald will be looking to improve his 4-2 record in finals.
Fourth seeds Jonathan Eysseric and Franko Skugor will take on Dutchmen Sander Arends and Haase in the other semi-final on Saturday.