Portuguese tennis player Nuno Borges delivered an impressive performance Thursday at the Vanda Pharmaceuticals Mallorca Championships in Mallorca, Spain, eliminating top-seeded Italian Luciano Darderi 7-6 (1), 6-4 to advance to his first grass-court semifinal at the tour level.
The victory marked Borges’ third career ATP semifinal appearance. He secured the win by breaking Darderi’s serve at 5-4 in the second set — the only break of the entire match. Borges was equally dominant on his own serve, saving all four break points he faced, all of which came in the second set. He finished with 10 aces and no double faults, converting 78.5 percent — 51 of 65 — of his service points.
Borges will next face fellow unseeded player Ethan Quinn for a berth in the final. Quinn earned his spot by rallying from a set down to defeat Czech player Vit Kopriva 5-7, 7-5, 6-3, reaching his first ATP semifinal in the process.
The other semifinal at Mallorca will feature No. 2 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain against Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan. Davidovich Fokina cruised past Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-3, while Marozsan topped Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 6-3 — his second straight victory over Kecmanovic in as many weeks.
At the Lexus Eastbourne Open in England, British lucky loser Toby Samuel kept his remarkable run alive by defeating No. 8 seed Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semifinals. Samuel had only earned his place in the tournament after Francisco Cerundolo — the brother of the player he beat Thursday — withdrew due to a hip injury. Samuel had won his first-ever tour-level match just the day before to reach the quarterfinals.
Despite winning only 64.4 percent of his service points — 47 of 73 — Samuel saved all seven break points he faced. His Argentine opponent struggled as well, matching his ace total with four double faults and winning just 60.7 percent — 37 of 61 — of his service points.
Samuel will need to get past Belgium’s Zizou Bergs to reach the final. Bergs advanced by sweeping British qualifier Jan Choinski 6-3, 6-3.
On the other side of the Eastbourne draw, No. 6 seed Ugo Humbert will take on Great Britain’s Jack Draper in the semifinals. Humbert won an all-French quarterfinal matchup against Quentin Halys 6-3, 6-4, while Draper had little trouble with Canada’s Gabriel Diallo, winning 6-1, 6-4.
