HALLE (Reuters) – Fourth seed Andrey Rublev moved into the semi-finals of a grasscourt tournament for the first time in his career after beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6(4) 6-2 at the ATP Tour 500 event in Halle on Friday.
Rublev, 23, is the only seed left in the tournament after other top seeds Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Roger Federer made early exits.
Russian Rublev fired nine aces, 29 winners, won 82% of his first serve points and did not concede a single break point against the 2011 champion.
“I am happy with my performance to reach the semi-finals for the first time,” Rublev said. “The first set was really tough. He was 3-0 up in the tiebreak and I came back, which was the key.
“After the first set, I think he mentally went down and I was pumped up. I hit a couple of good returns in the first game of the second set.”
Rublev will face either South African Lloyd Harris or Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili in the semi-final.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Louise Heavens)
