At the Garanti Koza Sofia Open, defending champion Roberto Bautista Agut defeated a stern Gilles Muller 7-5 7-6(5) to advance to the semifinals in Bulgaria.
In their sixth meeting and their second in Sofia, Roberto Bautista Agut and Gilles Muller crossed paths for a place in the last four of the Garanti Koza Sofia Open. Despite a nervy start both players settled into their serving rhythms and forced errors out of their opponents to gain the advantage. No break point opportunities were created until the twelfth game, where the experienced Spaniard siezed the moment and broke on his first break point to seal the first set 7-5. Could Muller put more pressure on the fourth seed?
In the second set Bautista Agut predicted Muller’s serves easily and created four break points in the opening two return games. However Muller managed to save all of them to keep himself within touching distance. Both competitors served a combined 21 aces in the match as it was becoming increasingly difficult to break each other’s serve. As a result the second set resulted in a tiebreak. The world number 16 managed to edge it 7-5, through precision and booked his place into the final four in Sofia. The Spaniard is now 11-1 in 2017 and looks impressive to begin the new season.
Bautista Agut will now play second seed David Goffin who beat fellow Belgian Steve Darcis 6-1 6-3 in 1 hour and 13 minutes to advance to the semifinals. The world number 11 broke four times in 12 opportunities to prove to much for his compatriot and set up a tantalising match with the defending champion. Goffin explained after the match that he was pleased with his performance, “I started the match very well. At the beginning of the second set we were equivalent. He had several opportunities to break that were saved, and I missed a few opportunities. When you fight in the first set 6-1 you expect your opponent to do something different. I could handle and I am happy that I will play in the semifinals.” Tomorrow’s semifinal will be the third meeting between the two with Bautista Agut leading the head to head 2-0.
The top half of the draw will take place later this afternoon when home favourite Grigor Dimitrov will look to continue his impressive form against Viktor Troicki and Dominic Thiem’s conqueror Nikoloz Basilashvilli will play Martin Klizan.
