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Stan Wawrinka held his nerve to break his 2023 semi-final duck on Friday at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag, where the former World No. 3 reached the last four by downing Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4, 7-5.
In the pair’s second Lexus ATP Head2Head clash in the space of 11 days, Wawrinka improved to 2-0 against Carballes Baena by prevailing in a tense quarter-final clash of narrow margins. A late break of serve in each set ultimately proved decisive for the sixth-seeded Swiss, who wrapped a one-hour, 44-minute win to reach his first tour-level semi-final since Metz in September 2022.
“He’s a really tough player, I expected a tough match,” said Wawrinka in his on-court interview. “I think tonight I was playing well. It’s slow conditions so it’s not easy to get through, to be aggressive, but my game is there and I’m enjoying my time here. I’m happy to be in the semi-finals tomorrow.”
STAN. THE. MAN. 🤩 @stanwawrinka is semi-final bound in Umag after getting past Carballes Baena 6-4 7-5.@CroatiaOpenUmag | #ATPUmag pic.twitter.com/7q7OfLh7tt
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 28, 2023
Wawrinka has impressed so far this week on his first appearance in Umag since 2007. He has now won all six sets he has played at the clay-court ATP 250 as he looks to clinch his first tour-level title since Geneva in 2017. His next opponent in Croatia will be Lorenzo Sonego, who earlier defeated Jaume Munar 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
“It’s going to be a tough match,” said Wawrinka, who lifted his maiden ATP Tour title in Umag in 2006. “He’s a great player. He’s a big fighter with some amazing shots, so I expect a really tough battle. But hopefully I can keep playing that well and keep winning.”
There had been Italian joy in Umag on Friday prior to Sonego’s win as Matteo Arnaldi also booked his semi-final spot on the Croatian clay.
In his maiden ATP Tour quarter-final, Arnaldi recovered from a difficult start in style to upset top seed Jiri Lehecka 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. In a clash between a pair of 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals competitors, Arnaldi converted three of his nine break points to wrap a two-hour, four-minute victory under the Croatian sun.
Since notching his maiden ATP Tour win against Munar in Barcelona in April, Arnaldi has made steady progress. He reached the third round as a qualifier at the Mutua Madrid Open in May, defeating Casper Ruud en route, and is now 9-7 for the season, with his run to the last four in Umag so far propelling him 15 spots to No. 61 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.
The 22-year-old will face Alexei Popyrin in the semi-finals, after the Australian downed home #NextGenATP star Dino Prizmic 7-6(2), 7-5.
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