Stefanos Tsitsipas’ quest for a second consecutive title at the Los Cabos Open is gaining momentum after he moved into the last four of the tournament.
The second seed was given a stern test by American qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic before prevailing 7-6(1), 6-3, after an hour and 40 minutes of play. Tsitsipas won 87% of his first service points and broke the American twice. It is his seventh win of the season with Los Cabos being only the second singles tournament he is playing.
“It was not the best start of the match, but I managed to get up and get things under control, especially in the second set when I got into a rhythm and made things difficult for him, more my game”, Tsitsipas later told reporters.
Awaiting the world No.11 in the semi-finals will be Casper Ruud who defeated Nuno Borges 6-3, 6-2. It is the first time he has reached the last four of a Tour-level event since the Bastad Open last July. Overall the Norweigan has reached 31 semi-finals on the ATP Tour so far in his career.
The upcoming clash will be only the third time Tsitsipas has played Ruud in the main draw of an ATP event and it will be their first meeting since 2021. The Greek won their hardcourt match at the 2021 Canadian Masters but lost to Ruud on the clay at the Madrid Open that same year.
“The conditions benefit the game of both of us, we both like them,” he said.
“He (Ruud) is a competitor, he pushes me to the limit, I need to be well prepared and take it like every match and see if there is an opportunity to play my game.”
Elsewhere, top seed Alexander Zverev dropped only seven games during his 6-3, 6-4, win over Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis. The German has won 22 out of 23 matches against players ranked outside the world’s top 50 since last year’s French Open. This week he is seeking his 22nd ATP trophy.
Zverev will next play Jordan Thompson who staged an epic comeback to beat Alex Michelsen 0-6, 7-6(1), 7-5. The world No.40 saved three match points during the second set and recovered from a break down in the third.
“That’s probably one of the best comebacks I’ve ever had in my life, and [it was] in a quarter-final of a Tour event,” Thompson said. “I was saying to myself that I literally haven’t been in front until I hit the front at 6-5 in the third set. So a long time being behind. I don’t think anyone would challenge my competitiveness.”
This week’s champion in Los Cabos will earn $139,190 in prize money.
