THE two ATP 250 events are heating up as we enter the semi finals stage, following two huge days of quarter finals action at both Parma, Italy and Belgrade, Serbia. At the Emilia-Romagna Open, three of the day’s four seeds fell, while at Belgrade, world number one Novak Djokovic continued his run on home soil.

Djokovic needed just 56 minutes to dispose of Argentinian Federico Coria, with an “ideal performance” setting the tone for the semis. The 6-1 6-0 sweep of Coria came with by winning 71 per cent of the overall points, with the Serbian impressed by his own ability to command control and impose a relentless approach to the match.

“You won’t always want to play like this, it’s not always possible,” Djokovic said. “But I think this definitely helps me feel better on the court. I think everything worked perfectly for me today.”

“It was the first time that I played against Coria and I tried to impose an aggressive style of tennis from the very beginning and not allow him to have too much time to play around,” Djokovic said. “I played a phenomenal second set, really flawless.”

Qualifier Andrej Martin will have a huge ride ahead of him when he takes on Djokovic in the semi finals following an impressive 3-6 6-3 6-4 comeback performance against another Serbian and fifth seed Dusan Lajovic. It was consistency that got the Slovakian over the line in this encounter, however he will need to step up against Djokovic with fans permitted to attend the event late this week.

Meanwhile, a second Argentinian had his ride to the semis made much easier, as eighth seed Federico Delbonis was dealt a walkover from Spanish qualifier Roberto Carballes Baena. Delbonis will take on another Slovakian qualifier in Alex Molcan, after the left-hander took down Fernando Verdasco in just 62 minutes.

At Parma, an all-American semi final is set as sixth seed Tommy Paul and 20-year-old Sebastian Korda go head to head. Both disposed of seeded talent to head into the semi, with the former taking down fourth seed German Jan-Lennard Struff and the latter downing eighth seed Yoshihito Nishioka. Paul  rendered Struff inefficient throughout their encounter, not allowing the German to chance at a break point throughout the 6-2 6-4 contest. Korda registered a 74 per cent winning rate off his first serve to claim victory 6-3 6-3, heading into his first clay semi-final in the process.

“I played a great match. I know he has been playing really good tennis, he reached the semi-final in Lyon [last week],” Korda said post-match. “But it’s my first semi-final on clay and I’m super happy.”

“I’m really good friends with Tommy,” Korda said. “We practise together a lot. It’s going to be a really fun match. He’s been playing great, so hopefully it will be a fun one.”

Jaume Munar and Marco Cecchinato will contest the second semi final, after both commanded proceedings in their respective quarter finals matchups. Munar’s excellent 47-minute victory over fifth seed Richard Gasquet showed just how much the Spaniard is capable of, winning 22 of his 23 first serve points and 100 per cent of his second serve off a 77 per cent clip, 6-1 6-1. Wildcard Cecchinato starred on home soil against lucky loser Norbert Gombos, defeating the Slovakian with seven aces, winning 80 per cent of his first serve points in the process.

EMILIA-ROMAGNA OPEN QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

[6] Tommy Paul (USA) defeated [4] Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 6-2 6-4
Jaume Munar (ESP) defeated [5] Richard Gasquet (FRA) 6-1 6-1
Sebastian Korda (USA) defeated [8] Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 6-3 6-3
[WC] Marco Cecchinato (ITA) defeated [LL] Norbert Gombos (SVK) 6-3 6-1

BEGRADE OPEN QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) defeated Federico Coria (ARG) 6-1 6-0
[Q] Andrej Martin (SVK) defeated [5] Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 3-6 6-3 6-4
[8] Federico Delbonis (ARG) defeated [Q] Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) W/O
[Q] Alex Molcan (SVK) defeated Fernado Verdasco (ESP) 6-2 6-0

Picture credit: ATP Tour