The Spanish Roberto Bautista surprised Holger Runewho defeated 7-6 (8), 6-7 (4) and 6-2, and He will face Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals The Queen's.
The Castellón reached the penultimate round of the London tournament for the first time in his career at 37 yearsalso returning to get among the 50 best in the world.
He is the third most veteran of the top 50 of the ATP rankingonly behind Gael Monfils and Novak Djokovic, who are already 38 years old. That of Castellón He demonstrated his professionalism again and good to say goodbye to Runethat does not just hook two good tournaments often.
When the Danish was already relied Thinking about beating Alcaraz in the semifinals, as he did in the Count of Godó, Bautista emerged in a very worked victory and in which he demonstrated a mental strength spectacular to recover from the loss of the second set after A 'Tie-Break' in which he lost five points in a row.
These are the sixth semifinals in Bautista grassthe first from Halle 2023, and in them Alcaraz will be measuredwho defeated Arthur Rinderknech in two sets, For the third time in his career. The two previous precedents, in Indian Wells 2022 and Barcelona 2023, The Murcian took them in two sets.
The controversy with Alcaraz
Bautista appeared before the media after the party, highlighting his good physical condition despite his age: “This is the result of doing a good job and being careful for many years; if not, the body would not be as it is now. I had bad luck and broke the fibula. I was stopped five months and I got a week from the top 100. Last year at this time was 120, But a week I was back. I am happy about the performance I am having during this year. I think he had made more merits to get better results and had not obtained them. Luckily, work always pays and this week has paid me. “
In addition, he was asked about What can be done to win Alcaraz: “Play as today. Play aggressive, put a lot of pressure on the rest, get good. Carlos is a phenomenon and the first thing I want to do is enjoy tomorrow's game And I wish I can put it in trouble. “In relation to his words about the Murcian documentary, he wanted to clarify it:”If there is someone who wants Carlos to win. He and his team know it, I have an exceptional relationship with him And luckily they trusted me. They knew how to read the statement I had. Unfortunately today's press draws statements They can hurt a person, and in fact they hurt me. ”
