MADRID, 28 (EUROPA PRESS)
Of the two, the one who had to work his pass the most was the Castellón native, third seeded in the tournament and who needed almost three hours to eliminate the Czech Jiri Lehecka in three sets (4-6, 7-5, 7-5) .
Bautista was on the ropes since after losing the first set, where he conceded three breaks, he was down in the second 5-3. The Central European had a serve to eliminate the Spaniard, but he broke and ended up signing a run of six games in a row to force the third set and go 2-0 up.
However, Lehecka, number 68 in the ATP world ranking, knew how to react quickly to once again balance a duel that remained very even until the final stages where the man from Castellón drew on experience to break definitively when his rival served to decide it. all in the ‘tie-break’.
Bautista will now seek the final against his compatriot Albert Ramos, fifth seeded and who took the duel of the ‘Armada’ against Pedro Martínez, seventh favorite, with enough authority 6-4, 6-2 after almost two hours of play .
