ATP roundup: Novak Djokovic celebrates birthday with quarterfinal win in Geneva

Djokovic Celebrates Birthday with Geneva Semifinal Berth

Second-seeded Novak Djokovic advanced to the semifinals of the Gonet Geneva Open on Thursday, his 38th birthday, with a decisive 6-4, 6-4 win over eighth-seeded Italian Matteo Arnaldi in Switzerland. The Serbian star successfully avenged a loss to Arnaldi from last month’s Mutua Madrid Open.

Djokovic’s semifinal opponent will be British qualifier Cameron Norrie, who eliminated fifth-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia 7-6 (6), 6-4. Norrie displayed clutch play, saving four of five break points he faced. In another quarterfinal upset, sixth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland saved all three break points in his 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over top seed Taylor Fritz, winning an impressive 39 of 45 first-serve points. Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner completed the semifinal lineup by rallying past fourth-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. For some important tips on betting on tennis, you can find more information here.

Rublev Leads Charge into Hamburg Semifinals

Third-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia, a past champion of this event in 2020, advanced to the semifinals of the Bitpanda Hamburg Open with a hard-fought 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Italy’s Luciano Darderi.

Sixth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada outlasted unseeded Frenchman Alexandre Muller 7-6 (4), 6-7 (6), 6-3 in a marathon match that lasted just under three hours. Auger-Aliassime held an edge in aces (6-0) and converted four of 12 break points, compared to Muller’s two of six. In other quarterfinal matches, Italy’s Flavio Cobolli dominated the second set in knocking off Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (4), 6-0, and Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry ousted Czech Jiri Lehecka 7-5, 6-3.