Alexander Zverev proved to be the lone survivor among the top four seeds on Friday at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, Germany, as several high-profile players were sent packing in the quarterfinals.
The tournament’s top seed, Zverev of Germany, needed every bit of two hours to get past Belgium’s Raphael Collignon, winning 7-6 (10), 7-6 (2). Both players served brilliantly — each firing 14 aces without dropping a single service game throughout the match.
The second seed, Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, had three match points in his grasp against American Frances Tiafoe, but Tiafoe refused to go quietly. The American came back to claim a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (12) victory.
Third-seeded Ben Shelton also came agonizingly close to victory, reaching match point against fifth-seeded Taylor Fritz — but Fritz turned the tables and rallied for a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (3) win. Fritz was dominant on serve, blasting 24 aces and successfully defending all four break point chances Shelton had against him.
Saturday’s semifinals will feature Zverev against Fritz in one match, while unseeded Frances Tiafoe takes on unseeded German wild card Daniel Altmaier in the other. Altmaier secured his spot with a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-4 win over fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia.
At the HSBC Championships in London, unseeded American Brandon Nakashima turned in an impressive performance, dispatching top-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia 7-5, 6-3 in just 93 minutes. Nakashima was especially effective on returns, winning 30.8 percent — 16 of 52 points — on de Minaur’s serve, posting a return rating of 184.
Nakashima advances to face seventh-seeded Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina on Saturday. Cerundolo earned his semifinal berth by defeating Great Britain’s Arthur Fery 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-4.
In the other London semifinal, eighth-seeded Tommy Paul knocked off fourth-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (4), never losing his serve during the match. Paul will face unseeded Ugo Humbert, a left-handed Frenchman who cruised past Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-1, 6-2.
