Tomic, Ferrer Advance To Tournament Semifinals; American Teen Stephens Stays Alive In Hobart
David Ferrer is already into his second semifinal of the young 2013 season reaching the last four in Auckland after easily trouncing Lukas Lacko 6-2, 6-1
“I am pleased with my game today, I played better than yesterday,” said the four-time Auckland champ Ferrer. “[I have a] good feeling with my game, I received better and I did not make so many mistakes.”
Next for the Spaniard who will be a No. 4 seed when the Australian Open draw is released later this afternoon, is comeback story Gael Monfils. The Frenchman notched one of his best wins in recent memory knocking out Tommy Haas 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals last night.
“I am happy because it’s been a while since I won two matches in a row, but I’m still not 100 per cent happy with the way I played,” said Monfils. “There was too much defense.
“Tomorrow is a massive challenge. It will be very hard. My confidence is coming back and whatever happens I will compete and fight and try my best.”
The other semifinals pits Philipp Kohlschreiber against Sam Querrey. Querrey will be top ranked American man in Australia this year following the withdrawal of John Isner.
In Sydney, Bernard Tomic stayed perfect on the season. After collecting three exo wins at the Hopman Cup to start the year, Tomic has won three more on the official tour this week en route to the Sydney semifinals where tonight he’ll meet Andreas Seppi.
“I’m really happy with today’s performance and how I played,” said Tomic following a three-set win over defending champion Jarkko Nieminen. “But I’m ready to go for tomorrow’s semifinal. I’m really confident now, and I got a shot to get into the final for the first time in my career.”
In the earlier semifinals it’s Kevin Anderson against Juliean Benneteau.
The women’s final is also set with top seed Agnieszka Radwanska drawing Dominika Cibulkova.
And in Hobart, two American 19-year-olds went the distance with Sloane Stephens prevailing 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 over qualifier Lauren Davis in a hard-fought quarterfinal.
“It was an extremely tough match and she played really well,” Stephens said. “I was kind of getting frustrated here and there and in the end I was just glad to get through.
“I was really please with how if finished. Towards the end I was playing some of my best tennis of the match and just managed to stay calm and composed. She’s played six matches – so I knew she was tired – and I just told myself, ‘make a lot of balls and go for your shots when you can.'”
Stephens, who’ll make her Grand Slam seeding debut at the Australian Open, now faces Elena Vesnina while Mona Barthel battles Belgian Kirsten Flipkens in the other semi.
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