Hurkacz, Dimitrov hurry into Marseille SFs

Hubert Hurkacz's quest for a successful title defense is in full force at the Open 13 Provence, where on Friday he raced past Czech Tomas Machac 6-3, 6-4 in a 62-minute quarter-final.

The 26-year-old Hurkacz was nearly untouchable on serve, winning 28 of his 31 points behind his first delivery. Hurkacz struck the ball cleanly as he maintained aggression from the baseline and redirected the ball with ease to reach the last four.

"I was definitely serving well today and that helped me out," said Hurkacz, who will meet home favourite Ugo Humbert in Saturday's semi-finals. "I had a couple good return games, but apart from that, I didn't have many chances... I feel my game has been strong and I've constantly been trying to improve things, so I feel confident on the court."

World No. 8 Hurkacz, who reached the last eight at the Australian Open, is the first player to post 10 tour-level wins this year.

Machac, 23, was aiming for his first tour-level semi-final and maiden Top-10 victory. Despite Friday's loss, Machac is up to a career-high No. 61 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. Last month, he enjoyed a third-round run in Melbourne.

Humbert was also untroubled earlier on Friday, needing just one hour, nine minutes to down Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-1, 6-4. Despite making only 58 per cent of his first serves, the lefty Humbert dropped just two points (24/26) behind his hefty first delivery and did not face a break point all match.

A four-time tour-level titlist, Humbert is riding a six-match winning streak at indoor hard-court tournaments, having closed the 2023 season with a trophy in Metz. Humbert is into the Marseille semi-finals for the third time and will next look to earn his maiden win versus Hurkacz, who leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head 3-0, including a four-set victory at last month's Australian Open.

In the bottom half of the draw, Grigor Dimitrov and Karen Khachanov will clash in the semi-finals after they each earned straight-set victories Friday. World No. 18 Khachanov wasted little time as he overwhelmed China's Zhang Zhizhen 6-4, 6-1 in 61 minutes while second-seeded Dimitrov, who won his ninth tour-level title crown last month in Brisbane, dispatched Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 7-6(6).

The final 4️⃣

Early predictions...? 👀@Open13 | #Open13Provence pic.twitter.com/4pGC2woQ3T

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 9, 2024

"Overall a solid way of playing, there's not much else or no secret to what needs to be done out here," Dimitrov said. "I was able to navigate through very nicely and calmly."

Dimitrov leads Khachanov 3-0 in their Lexus ATPHead2Head series, with two of the meetings coming on indoor hard.

For the second consecutive week in France, the semi-finals will feature the top four seeds, having previously happened in Montpellier.

Did You Know?
All four of the quarter-final winners in Marseille did not face a break point on Friday.