Benoit Paire reached his third ATP World Tour semi-final of the season on Friday as he defeated Malek Jaziri 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell.

The sixth-seeded Frenchman clinched a tight second set with a break of serve in the 12th game, capitalising on his third set point to level the match. From there it was a sprint to the finish, with Paire breaking in the second and sixth games of the decider to prevail in two hours.

After semi-final showings in Chennai (l. to Wawrinka) and Marseille (l. to Cilic), Paire is bidding to reach his fifth ATP World Tour final (1-3 record). The 26 year old won his lone title on clay in Bastad last year (d. Robredo).

Paire goes on to face either second seed and two-time defending champion Kei Nishikori or Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Lucas Pouille is playing the best tennis of his young career. A day after knocking out second seed Ivo Karlovic, Pouille downed seventh seed Paolo Lorenzi 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals of the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy on Friday. Only one point (105-104) separated the two men after two hours and 24 minutes.

“He played really well,” Pouille said. “I was broken early in the first set and I wasn’t able to break him back. I started the second set with another break down but I broke him back right away and from there things turned in my favour. I started to play better.

“At 5-2 in the third, I had three match points but he was solid. Then at 5-3 I wasn’t able to finish on my serve. I am glad that I stayed calm at 5-5 and managed to win this match. This is a very important win.

“He is a tough opponent who has been on the tour for a long time and is close to his highest ranking. I have definitely improved my game in the last couple weeks. It is good to have a chance to play another match tomorrow.”

Pouille, No. 72 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is coming off consecutive round-of-16 appearances at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Miami and Monte-Carlo, defeating World No. 8 David Ferrer (Miami) and World No. 10 Richard Gasquet (Monte-Carlo).

Next up for the 22 year old is third seed Federico Delbonis, who eased past Marco Cecchinato 6-2, 6-2 in 68 minutes. Delbonis saved all three break points faced and improved to 10-4 on clay in 2016.

Defending champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez saved a match point in defeating Guido Pella 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(6). The fourth seed dropped serve three times and only broke his opponent once, but held strong in the deciding set to win in three hours and improve to 1-1 in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry.

“When you play a match like this, you have to fight for every point,” Garcia-Lopez said. “There are ups and downs, but in the end you just want to win. He deserved better than losing, but this is tennis. The tie-breaker in the third is like a lottery. I played with a lot of courage and I am happy to be in the semi-finals.”

Guccino/Sa Into Doubles Final

The unseeded duo of Chris Guccione and Andre Sa moved into the doubles final after beating fourth seeds Jonathan Erlich and Colin Fleming 6-4, 6-4. The Australian/Brazilian team saved four of five break points and broke their opponents three times in the 82-minute encounter.

Top-seeded Romanians Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau, and unseeded Dutchmen Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop will play for the other spot in the final. Mergea/Tecau advanced when Federico Delbonis and Paolo Lorenzi withdrew, with Delbonis citing a lower-back injury. Koolhof/Middelkoop defeated Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Santiago Gonzalez 6-2, 6-2 in less than an hour.

World No. 2 Andy Murray today announced that he has set up his own tennis event, Andy Murray Live presented by SSE, to help raise money for charity. The unique event, taking place on Wednesday 21 September at the SSE Hydro Glasgow, was the brainchild of Murray, who wanted to build a legacy tennis event in the UK whilst raising valuable funds for two charities.

Tickets go on sale today, with half of all seats costing £25 or less, making the event very accessible for all.

The City of Glasgow will play host to this new event where the evening will feature a singles and doubles match, with all profits going to local Glasgow charity, ’Young People’s Futures’ and Unicef, the world’s leading children’s organisation, of which Murray is a UK Ambassador.

The former Wimbledon and US Open Champion and current Olympic gold medal holder will play Gael Monfils, the flamboyant Frenchman in the singles. For the doubles, Murray will be joined by his brother, doubles World No. 1 Jamie Murray, to play against Monfils and former World No. 4 Tim Henman.

The evening will mark the first ever tennis event staged at the city’s state-of-the-art SSE Hydro, which topped the Billboard Venue Chart globally earlier this year.

Murray said, “It’s great to be returning home to Scotland and playing in the city of Glasgow. I travel the world playing tennis and unfortunately I don’t spend as much time as I would like to at home. I owe it to my fans who have supported me throughout the years and what better way than to play in front of them at The SSE Hydro whilst raising money for Young People’s Futures and Unicef.

“I’m looking forward to bringing top-level tennis to Glasgow on an annual basis and making this event bigger and better every year.”

Lily Caprani, Unicef UK’s Deputy Executive Director said: “Andy has provided vital support for Unicef’s work for children for a number of years, most recently raising awareness and much-needed funds for children affected by the Syrian conflict through his campaign, Andy’s Aces.

“We are very proud to announce that Andy has been appointed a Unicef UK Ambassador and this latest initiative is an example of his continued commitment to help children in danger. The money raised through ‘Andy Murray Live’ will help us provide life-saving food, clean water, vaccines and health care for children in emergencies, as well as education and protection from violence, exploitation and abuse.”

Unicef, supported by  Murray, was selected among nine recipients in the ATP ACES For Charity grant programme for 2016 and awarded a grant of $/€15,000.

Ann Lawrance, Young People’s Futures, commented: “Young People’s Futures are overwhelmed and so thankful to Andy Murray for choosing our project from many Scottish charities. Our team are so excited to be linked to the UK’s top sportsman and world number two. We are pinching ourselves at the thought of this opportunity. We can’t thank Andy enough for his support and look forward to what could be a life changing prospect for YPF and the Possilpark community.”

Tickets, from only £20 including VAT (plus booking fee) are available to purchase now: online at www.thessehydro.com; by calling the ticket hotline on 0844 395 4000, or in person from the main box office at the SECC. For accessible area tickets, please call 0800 952 0110 or for group bookings, please call 0844 395 4010.

For more information about ‘Andy Murray Live’ presented by SSE and hosted by the City of Glasgow, go to www.andymurraylive.com.

The national centre for Swiss Tennis can now be found at “1 Allée Roger Federer”. On Thursday, the Swiss star returned to Biel, where he trained as a junior, to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony inaugurating the street.  

“I am very moved,” said Federer, according to swissinfo.ch, before the 1500 people gathered for the event.  “I hope that we will see future champions on the Allée Roger Federer.”

Federer, alongside Swiss Tennis president René Stammbach and Mayor Erich Fehr, also assisted with the ground-breaking for the extension of the Swiss Tennis training centre, to open in 2017.

This is not the first time a street has been named in his honour. In 2012, the city of Halle, in Germany, unveiled “Roger-Federer-Allee” in recognition of Federer’s success on the grass at the Gerry Weber Open.

Read: Halle Names Street After Federer