Jurij Rodionov is in excellent form and, after his title in Biel last week, is now in the semi-finals of the Challenger tournament in Lille.
The ÖTV ace, who is number two in France, beat Canadian Gabriel Diallo (ATP-212.) in three sets in the quarter-finals 2: 6, 7: 5, 6: 1. As of Monday, he will be almost never placed as 119th. If he reaches the final again, he overtakes Austria’s number one, Dominic Thiem (currently 110th).
Thiem has only 20 points more in the live ranking than Rodionov. In the event of a tournament victory, Rodionov only just misses the first entry into the top 100.
Rodionov initially with problems
From the point of view of the Lower Austrian, the first set is still completely wrong, Diallo uses two of five breakballs and successfully fends off two break chances from Rodionov.
Set two is hard fought. Rodionov presents with a break, but has to give up his serve to make it 2-2. The 23-year-old takes the serve from his opponent again when the score is 5: 5 and then serves confidently.
The decision set is clear, Rodionov does not allow anything on his own serve, but he manages three breaks. After a little more than two hours of play, he uses the first match point to advance to the semi-finals. There he meets either Vitaliy Sachko (UKR/ATP-309.) or Otto Virtanen (FIN/ATP-139.).
In Mexico City, Maximilian Neuchrist also qualified for the semi-finals of the $160,000 challenger. The 31-year-old qualifier from Vienna could crack the top 200 for the first time with another win.
