Vesely, Berankis enter tata open semi-finals

Czech player Vesely eked out a sensational 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(11) victory over Ilya Ivashka of Belarus. Berankis of Lithuania recovered well after the first set setback to register a 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 victory against Japan’s Yuichi Sugita in another hard-fought quarter-final.

“It was a very close match. I think I was definitely lucky. I felt he deserved it more than I do at the end of the match. We both were very nervous,” Vesely said after the match. India’s only hope for the title, the in-form pairing of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Purav Raja, will face third seeds Jonathan Erich (Israel) and Andrei Vasilevski (Belarus) in the last four stage on Saturday.

The duo entered the semi-finals with a commanding 6-2, 6-1 win over Leander Paes (India) and Matthew Ebden (Australia) on Thursday. Meanwhile, Andre Goransson (Sweden) and Christopher Rungkat (Indonesia) overcame Romain Arneodo (Monaco) and Andre Begemann (Germany) 6-4, 7-6 (1) in the first doubles semi-finals.

Results: Singles: Quarter-finals: Jiri Vesely bt Ilya Ivashka 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (11); Ricardas Berankis bt Yuichi Sugita 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.

Doubles: Semi-finals: 

Andre Goransson and Christopher Rungkat bt Romain Arneodo and Andre Begemann 6-4, 7-6(1).