Lopez Edges Berdych In Big-Serving Stuttgart Duel

Feliciano Lopez is one match away from reaching his fourth grass-court final – and his first in three years. He will next challenge sixth seed Mischa Zverev or Tommy Haas on Saturday at the Mercedes Cup.

The Spaniard battled hard to beat third-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and nine minutes on Friday for a place in the Stuttgart semi-finals.

Berdych could not convert two set-point chances at 6-5, 15/40 on Lopez’s serve in the first set, but seized early control of the tie-break in a big-serving encounter. Serve-volleyer Lopez broke for a 4-2 lead in the second set, then in the seventh game of the decider to improve to a 12-12 match record in 2017. Berdych hit 21 aces, but Lopez struck 19 aces and importantly saved all nine break points he faced.

Lopez has won two grass-court titles at the Aegon International in 2013 (d. Simon) and 2014 (d. Gasquet). He also finished runner-up at the 2014 Aegon Championships (l. to Dimitrov).

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