Top seed Daniil Medvedev, after a battle in the second round, had a smoother outing Thursday in defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Medvedev had needed three sets to oust Italian Lorenzo Sonego a day earlier, but the Russian rode 15 winners, three aces and just six unforced errors to dispatch Spain’s Davidovich Fokina in one hour and 17 minutes.
Fifth seed Ugo Humbert of France outlasted No. 3 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, 3-6, 7-6 (8), 6-3 to advance to the semifinals against Medvedev. Humbert saved three match points in the second-set tiebreak. He hit 24 winners in the match lasting Brothers Inaki and Nico Williams scored to help Athletic Bilbao secure a 3-0 semi-final win over Atletico Madrid on Thursday and a 4-0 aggregate victory that sent the Basque side into their third Copa de Rey final in the last five years.
Bilbao, who reached their 40th Spanish cup final, will bid to end a 40-year title drought in Seville on April 6, when they face Mallorca who beat Real Sociedad 5-4 on penalties on Tuesday.
two hours and 24 minutes.
Two other seeded players advanced when their unseeded opponents retired due to injury during their quarterfinal matches. No. 2 Andrey Rublev of Russia eliminated American Sebastian Korda 6-4, 4-3 (retired), and No. 7 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan moved past the Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 4-1 (retired).