Dan Evans beats Andreas Seppi to reach Delray Beach Open last four
Sunday 24 February 2019 21:32, UK
Dan Evans reached the third ATP Tour semi-final of his career, and first since his return from suspension, with victory over Andreas Seppi at the Delray Beach Open.
The British No 3 has enjoyed an impressive run in Florida, coming through qualifying to knock out defending champion Frances Tiafoe in the first round.
And he ensured that run continued with an impressive 6-4 6-4 victory over Seppi in their first career meeting to set up a last four showdown with John Isner, who beat Adrian Mannarino 7-6 6-4.
Evans, beaten in the final on the Challenger Tour earlier this month, returned from a 12-month ban for cocaine use last April and his form in Florida means he is projected to rise at least back into the world's top 120 on Monday morning.
It could be higher still if he can match his previous best of a final - the last time he reached the last four he went on to reach his only ATP level final where he lost to Gilles Muller at the Sydney International in January 2017.
Evans looked to be cruising as he raced into a 4-0 lead in the first set but Seppi rallied and Evans was made to work to close out the opener before a more straightforward display in the second came via an early break which he held on to book his semi-final date.
In Marseille at Open 13 Provence, top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the last four where he will face David Goffin, while the other semi-final will feature two unseeded players when Mikhail Kukushkin faces wild card Ugo Humbert.
All four semi-finalists had little trouble in coming through their quarter-finals - four straight-set victories made for a straightforward day in the South of France.
Tsitsipas dropped seven games in victory over Sergey Stakhovsky while third seed Goffin lost just six on his way to a win over sixth seed Gilles Simon. Kukushkin was a 6-4 6-1 winner over Andrey Rublev and will face Humbert who saw off Matthias Bachinger 6-3 6-3.
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