Robin Haase produced a stunning performance to knock out top seed David Goffin 7-5 6-1 as he advanced to the Semi-Finals in Gstaad.
The Dutchman used his big serve to good effect, hitting nine aces in the match to blow the world number 13 off court. He broke four times as he broke down a tired Goffin, who was looking for his third ATP World Tour title of his career. The world number 50 secured the win in 1 hour and 20 minutes as he won his first match in four meetings with the Belgian to reach his second Semi-Final of the season, his first since Dubai in February.
Haase was happy with his victory, saying ‘Today it was a bit more windy and we were both a bit nervous at the beginning, I really enjoy the conditions here and I’m happy to be back in the semi-finals.’
Haase will play German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann who shocked eighth seed Joao Sousa 6-7(10) 6-2 6-2 in 1 hour and 55 minutes. After an epic first set tiebreak the match fell apart for Sousa, who only created one break point opportunity, which came in the last game.
However tennis is about taking opportunities and the German converted all four of his break point chances for a fantastic win. Hanfmann, who only played his second ATP Quarter-Final today, posted some solid numbers to adavance to the last four.
The bottom half of the draw saw a hard fought win for Fabio Fognini who beat Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3 4-6 6-3 in 1 hour and 50 minutes. The Italian played the better tennis as he converted 30% of break points and won 73% of first serve points to advance to the last four.
The fourth seed will now play the second seed, Roberto Bautista Agut. The Spaniard eased past Denis Istomin 6-3 6-4 in just over 80 minutes to post his 31st victory on the ATP World Tour. He gave credit to Istomin, who played an average match, ‘Today, the conditions were a bit faster than the other days and Denis played aggressively, I will prepare and rest well for tomorrow.’
The Semi-Finals in Gstaad start at 11:30 local time tomorrow.
