Novak Djokovic won his 15th consecutive match to start 2023, as the top-seeded Serbian beat fifth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-3, 7-5 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates.
Djokovic never faced a break point while improving to 5-0 in his head-to-head series with Hurkacz. The 22-time Grand Slam champion dominated with his serve, winning 80.6 percent (29 of 36) of his first-serve points and 78.9 percent (15 of 19) of his second-serve points.
Up next for Djokovic is a semifinal matchup against third-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev, who routed eighth-seeded Croatian Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2.
The other semifinal will feature second-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia, who advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory over the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp, and seventh-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
Movistar Chile Open
Tomas Martin Etcheverry pulled out a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over second-seeded Francisco Cerundolo in an all-Argentine second-round match in Santiago.
Etcheverry needed five match points to seal the win and advance to the quarterfinals of an ATP Tour event for the second time ever. He got to the quarterfinals in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last month.
Third-seeded Sebastian Baez of Argentina rolled to a 6-4, 6-3 win over Chilean wild-card entrant Cristian Garin. Sixth-seeded Laslo Djere of Serbia defeated Italy’s Riccardo Bonadio 7-5, 7-5, and Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic eked out a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (2) victory over Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
Abierto Mexicano Telcel
Third-seeded Taylor Fritz and seventh-seeded Tommy Paul will square off in an all-U.S. semifinal after both beat U.S. countrymen in the quarterfinals at Acapulco, Mexico.
Fritz needed 95 minutes to eliminate sixth-seeded Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4. Fritz put just half of his first serves in play but won all four of the break points he faced.
Paul had an even easier day’s work, eliminating Mackenzie McDonald 6-2, 6-2 in 59 minutes. Paul, who saved the lone break point on his serve, won 11 of 18 points on McDonald’s second serve.
Eighth-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia advanced with a 6-2, 6-2 blowout of Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel. Next up for de Minaur is a match against fourth-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark, who advanced when Italy’s Matteo Berrettini retired while trailing 6-0, 1-0.
–Field Level Media
