Joao Fonseca and Kei Nishikori will do battle at the Phoenix Challenger in a blockbuster semi-final clash.
Starting with Fonseca, the Brazilian defeated Pavel Kotov, Jan-Lennard Struff and Hugo Gaston to reach the last four in Arizona.
After his match with Gaston Fonseca described how he felt after the win, “I played really good tennis today, really nice level, going for the shot aggressively,” Fonseca told the ATP website.
“Hugo is a very talented player, he can do everything. I did pretty well today, focussing on my serve. I’m happy with the win.”
Fonseca is currently 80 in the world and is looking for his second Challenger title of the season having started 2025 by winning the Canberra Challenger.
Standing in his way of the final is former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori who is looking for his ninth career Challenger title.
The Japanese star knocked out second seed Flavio Cobolli in three sets to reach the final four and spoke about how tough his win was, “[I played] pretty good, It wasn’t easy with the rain and cold, balls not flying,” Nishikori explained to the ATP website.
“When it’s cold, it’s almost impossible to hit many winners. There were many, many good rallies. I think we both played well in the third set. I had to stay calm and he’s not an easy opponent. I’m really happy to be in the semi-finals.”
The other semi-final will see top seed Nuno Borges take on Kazakh Alexander Bublik with Borges looking to win a third consecutive title in Phoenix.
Meanwhile Bublik’s fiery quarter-final with Corentin Moutet didn’t lack controversy as the two was deep in debate after their handshake.
The semi-finals begin at 20:30 GMT.
