The Spanish Roberto Bautista Agut underlined his status as the second favorite and, after beating the Croatian Borna Coric, seventh, he reached the semifinal of the Umag tournament in Croatia, along with the Portuguese Joao Sousa and the Austrian Dominic Thiem.
Bautista, twenty-second player on the circuit, broke down the resistance of the local tennis player in one hour and 39 minutes after a double 6-3.
The Spanish tennis player, who had never faced the Croatian before, aspires to his third title in Umag after those achieved last year in Stuttgart and Hertogenbosch. Before, he also fell in the finals in Madras and Moscow.
Roberto Bautista will seek the final against the Portuguese Joao Sousa, who extended his good streak after beating the Italian Fabio Fognini in three sets (6-2, 3-6 and 7-6(6)).
Also in the semifinals will be Austrian Dominic Thiem, who benefited from the retirement of his compatriot Andreas Haider Maurer in the third set of the match. Haider Maurer won the first set but fell physically and Thiem took advantage of it. He scored the second 6-1 and put the third on track with 3-0 until his countryman chose to leave.
Thiem will face in the semifinals the winner of the match between the first favorite, the French Gael Monfils and the German Philipp Kohlschreiber, sixth seed.
Roberto Bautista Agut to the Unag final
