Speed Post News Network
Patna : World No 42 Nikoloz Basilashvili, 29, Georgia, stunned 2nd seed & World No 6 Roger Federer, 39, Switzerland, in a three-set battle in quarter-finals on March 11, 2021, night, to reach the semi-finals of ATP ExxonMobil Open at Doha, Qataer. Basilashvili beat Federer , the winner of 20 Grand Slam singles titles, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in 1hr 50 minutes in QFs coming back from one set down.
Both the players hammered 12 Aces each during the match. The Georgian, however, also committed 5 double faults. Basilashvili though won 3 bfeak points in the match to just 1 by the Swiss, who has returned to tennis court after one year due to two knee operations. Both the players won 3 games each in a row in the match. Basilashvili, in all, won 98 points during the match to 90 by Federer.
World No 33 Taylor Fritz, 23, USA, beat 4th seed & World No 11 Denis Shapovalov, 21, Canada, in a three-set thriller to reach the semi-finals of Qater ExxonMobil Open on March 11, 2021. Fritz beat Shapovalov 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 in 2hrs 5 minutes in quarter-finals. rallying back from one set down . Fritz won 3 break points in the match to 2 by the Canadian. Both the players won 3 games each in a row during the match. Shapovalov though fired 12 Aces in the match to 11 by the American. The Canadian committed 5 double faults to 2 by the American. Fritz, in all, won 93 points during the match to 91 by Shapovalov.
World No 8 Andrey Rublev, 23, Russia, also entered the semi-finals of the event by walkover after his QFs opponent and World No 46 Marton Fucsovics, 29, Hungary, retired before the match.