Munich, Germany, 22 April 2023 | AAP / Tennis Australia

Munich, Germany

Chris O’Connell has won a war of attrition on the Munich clay to reach the second ATP Tour semifinal of his professional  career at the BMW Open.

Fresh from his career-best triumph over German hero Alexander Zverev on Thursday, O’Connell followed up 24 hours later by prevailing 7-6 (5) 4-6 6-3 in a quarterfinal dogfight with Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli.

It had been a freezing lunchtime when he downed Olympic champ Zverev, but the sun was out on Friday as O’Connell had to dig deep against the 20-year-old Cobolli, already a conqueror of another Sydneysider Jordan Thompson earlier in the event.

The 28-year-old prevailed after nearly two-and-a-half hours, overcoming a second-set letdown when he appeared to be struggling physically before summoning new reserves of energy in the decider.

https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/1649377134186749958?s=20

O’Connell had also been in trouble in the hour-long opening set, having to save three set points at 4-5 down before eventually taking the tiebreak when Cobolli offered up a double fault at set point down.

It provided world No.82 O’Connell with his first taste of last-four action in a tour-level event since he reached the semifinals in San Diego last September. It will be his first semifinal on clay.

A victory would transport O’Connell not only to his first final but also to a career-high ranking.

He’ll face a tough assignment against Denmark’s in-form defending champ Holger Rune, who disposed of Chile’s Cristian Garin 6-2 6-4 in quite ruthless fashion.

Now at a career-high world N0.7, Rune claimed his maiden event at the 2022 Munich tournament.

The 19-year-old was also a finalist at last week’s Monte Carlo Masters but admitted after outplaying Garin: “I have played a lot of matches, so the body is maybe not ideal.”

Aussies in action – Munich

RESULTS

Men’s singles, quarterfinals 
Christopher O’Connell (AUS) d [Q] Flavio Cobolli (ITA)

COMING UP

Men’s singles, semifinals
Christopher O’Connell (AUS) v [1] Holger Rune (DEN) 7-6(5) 4-6 6-3

https://twitter.com/atptour/status/1649382986117267463?s=20

Barcelona, Spain

In Barcelona, O’Connell’s fellow Sydneysider Alex de Minaur bowed out to No.2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The Greek dominated at the net, winning 17 points there, as he claimed a 6-2 6-4 victory in 81 minutes.

There was better news for Australian hopes in doubles as Matt Ebden and his Indian partner Rohan Bopanna progressed to the semifinals after victory over Mexican-French combination Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Aussies in action – Barcelona

RESULTS
Men’s singles quarterfinals
[2] Stefanos Tsitsipas  [8] Alex de Minaur (AUS) 6-4 6-2

Men’s doubles quarterfinals
Rohan Bopanna (IND)/Matt Ebden (AUS) d Santiago Gonzalez (MEX) /Eduoard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 6-2 -4

COMING UP
Men’s doubles, semifinals
Rohan Bopanna (IND)/Matt Ebden (AUS) v [1] Wesley Koolhof (NED)/Neal Skupski (GBR)

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