Tommy Paul beat lucky loser Rinky Hijikata 6-3 6-4 in the quarter finals in their first head-to-head match to reach the 15th semifinal of his career at the Adelaide International. Paul has moved within a win of a debut inside the top 10.
If Paul reaches the final, Paul will leapfrog Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas to become world number 10 becoming the 38th US player to break into the top 10 since the inception of world rankings in 1973.
Paul saved all four break points he faced against Hijikata in the opening set. The US player broke serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead and saved two break points in both the fifth and seventh games to take a 5-2 lead. He served out on his third set point to win the first set 6-3. Paul converted his second break point in the first game of the second set. Hijikata saved two break points in the third game of the second set. The Australian player saved two match points in the ninth game, as he was serving to stay in the match. Paul served out the win on his third match point after 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Paul is aiming to win his fifth ATP Tour and his first since Stockolm last October.
“That’s a big match. The more time on the court, the better for me. Yesterday wasn’t the prettiest match but I came out today and picked up my level a tonne”, said Paul.
Paul set up a semifinal clash against Felix Auger Aliassime, who saved nine break points in his 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 win against Marcos Giron.
Auger Aliassime hit 11 aces to Giron’s 2 and won 80% of his first serve points to Giron’s 65.
Auger Aliassime saved three break points to hold serve at deuce in the 11th game. Giron fended off three set points in the 12th game. Auger Aliassime earned two mini-breaks to race out to a 5-1 lead. Giron pulled one mini-break back for 3-5 but Auger Aliassime sealed the tie-break 7-3 with his third mini-break after 61 minutes. Giron missed five break points in the second game of the second set. The Canadian player converted his third break point in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. The Canadian player broke for the second time in the ninth game to win the second set 6-3 on his first match point.
Auger Aliassime has reached his 29th tour-level semifinal and his first since the Olympic Games in Paris. Auger Aliassime has reached his 2025 season with a win over Taylor Fritz at the United Cup.
Paul and Auger Aliassime will meet for the second time in their career. In their first match-up Auger Aliassime saved six match points in an epic clash at Indian Wells in 2023.
Miomir Kecmanovic beat Benjamin Bonzi 6-2 6-3 in just 65 minutes. Kecmanovic broke twice in the third and eighth games to win the first set 6-2. The Serbian player converted his second break point in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead and sealed the win in the ninth game on his first match point.
Kecmanovic hit 12 aced and saved the only break point he faced. The Serbian player has not dropped a set in the tournament this week.
Kecmanovic set up a semifinals clash against Sebastian Korda after Thanasi Kokkinakis was forced to withdraw ahead of their quarter final due to a right shoulder injury. Kokkinakis had won three-set matches against Yoshihito Nishioka and Tomas Martin Etchecverry earlier this week.
