Jiri Vesely and second seed Ricardas Berankis snatched berths in the singles semi-finals of the ATP Tata Open Maharashtra after come-from-behind victories, in Pune, on Friday.
Czech player Vesely scored a sensational 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(11) victory over Ilya Ivashka of Belarus, while Berankis of Lithuania recovered well after the first set setback to register a 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 victory over Japan's Yuichi Sugita in another hard-fought quarter-final.
"It was a very close match. I think I was definitely lucky. I felt he deserved it more than I do at the end of the match. We both were very nervous," Vesely said after the match.
India's only hope for the doubles title, the in-form pair of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Purav Raja will face third seeds Jonathan Erich and Andrei Vasilevski in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The duo entered the last four with a commanding 6-2, 6-1 win over Leander Paes and Matthew Ebden on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Andre Goransson and Christopher Rungkat overcame Romain Arneodo and Andre Begemann 6-4, 7-6(7-1) in the first doubles semi-finals.
Results:
Singles quarter-finals: Jiri Vesely (CZE) bt Ilya Ivashka (BLR) 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(11); Ricardas Berankis (LTU) bt Yuichi Sugita (JPN) 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.
Doubles semi-finals: Andre Goransson and Christopher Rungkat bt Romain Arneodo and Andre Begemann 6-4 7-6(7-1).
