Karen Khachanov to meet Tomas Berdych in Open 13 Provence semi-finals in Marseille
Home favourite Lucas Pouille to face world No 193 qualifier Ilya Ivashka in the other semi-final.
Saturday 24 February 2018 10:47, UK
Karen Khachanov is through to the semi-finals of the Open 13 Provence in Marseille after a straight-sets victory over France's Julien Benneteau.
Khachanov fired 16 aces against the veteran world No 56, runner-up at the tournament in 2010, to win 6-4 6-4 in one hour and 24 minutes at the ATP 250 event.
The 21-year-old Russian will next meet fourth seed and Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych, whose match on Friday ended early after the conclusion of the opening set.
The Czech world No 17 claimed a tight opener 7-6 (7-4) before his opponent Damir Dzumhur retired.
Khachanov and Berdych have met once before at the French Open last year in a meeting which saw the Russian secure a commanding 7-5 6-4 6-4 success at Roland Garros.
Lucas Pouille made sure of French representation in the last four of the competition in Marseille with a battling 7-6(5) 3-6 6-4 victory over Filip Krajinovic as the world No 16 seeks a second title on home soil this month after his Open Sud de France crown in Montpellier.
The 24-year-old, who celebrated his birthday on Friday, was the runner-up in last year's edition and will hope to reach the final once again when he meets world No 193 qualifier Ilya Ivashka.
Ivashka, who benefited from a retirement by Stan Wawrinka on Thursday, outlasted another French player Nicolas Mahut 4-6 6-3 7-5 to extend his unlikely deep run.
At the Delray Beach Open, Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov beat Taylor Fritz 7-5 6-4 but will have to wait to see who he will face in the semi-finals after eighth-seeded Hyeon Chung and wildcard Frances Tiafoe are still to complete their rain-disrupted contest, which was halted with Tiafoe leading 5-7 6-4 5-3.
In the other half of the draw, Germany's Peter Gojowczyk defeated Reilly Opelka 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 to set up a meeting with American Steve Johnson, who recorded a 6-1 6-4 win over Russian Evgeny Donskoy.
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