Darderi, Griekspoor advance to Marrakech SFs

After recording consecutive ATP Tour match victories for the first time since last July this week at the Grand Prix Hassan II, Luciano Darderi has stretched his winning streak to three to reach the Marrakech semi-finals.

The seventh-seeded Italian beat Vit Kopriva 7-5, 6-2 on Friday at the ATP 250 to advance to his fourth tour-level semifinal (1-2), with each one coming on clay. Darderi, who could return to the Top 50 in the PIF ATP Rankings with second ATP Tour title (Cordoba 2024), improved to 14-0 on his favoured surface against players outside the Top 100.

The 23-year-old saved five of six break points, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and hit five aces in his 10 service games. He broke Kopriva's serve four times on 14 chances.

Next up for Darderi is a semi-final matchup with fifth seed Roberto Carballes Baena, who advanced past fourth seed Nuno Borges 6-4, 6-4. The 32-year-old Spaniard is into his fourth Marrakech semi-final, having won the event in 2023 and reached the final last season.

Top seed Tallon Griekspoor also advanced on Friday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against eighth seed Mattia Bellucci. Through to his first clay-court semi-final on the ATP Tour (and his ninth overall), the 28-year-old is the second Dutchman to reach the semi-finals in tournament history, after Sjeng Schalken in 1995. He is also the first top seed to make the semis at the event since Stan Wawrinka in 2013, when it was held in Casablanca.

Polish qualifier Kamil Majchrzak is next up for Griekspoor after his 7-5, 6-4 upset of third seed Alexandre Muller on Friday evening. Majchrzak earned his third Top 50 win to advance to his second ATP Tour semi-final, after reaching that stage in Pune in 2022.

All four of Friday's Marrakech quarter-finals were the first Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings between the competitors.