There weren’t many surprises in Friday’s quarterfinal matches at the Croatia Open at Umag, Swedish Open at Bastad and Claro Open in Bogota. At Umag, Top-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils rallied through to the semifinals after losing the first set and being down a break in the second against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber. Monfils’ next opponent will be Austria’s Dominic Thiem, who won, when fellow Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer retired mid-way due to injury. Second seeded Roberto Bautista Agut and Portuguese Joao Sousa also entered the semifinals at Umag. In the Skistar Swedish Open at Bastad, Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas scored an easy victory over Belgium’s Steve Darcis to reach within two matches of defending his 2014 title. Others to reach the round-of-four at Bastad were; two-time champion Tommy Robredo of Spain, Frenchman Benoit Paire and Germany’s Alexander Zverev. In Bogota, Croatia’s no.1 seeded player Ivo Karlovic had to work hard before overcoming a stiff challenge from Czech Republic’s Radek Stepanek. Other players, who joined Karlovic in the semifinals were; Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, Germany’s Michael Berrer and Australian Bernard Tomic.
In the Skistar Swedish Open in Bastad, defending champion Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas moved one step closer to his second consecutive title, when he triumphed over Belgium’s Steve Darcis 6-3, 6-4. Cuevas will next meet Frenchman Benoit Paire, who disposed of Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-2 in less than an hour. Two-time Bastad champion and second-seed Tommy Robredo of Spain reached the semifinals by defeating Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 6-3. Robredo will next play Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who came through in three sets against Brazil’s sixth seeded player Thomaz Bellucci 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.