ATP Geneva: Stan Wawrinka continues his strong form in Geneva by reaching the semifinals

Quarterfinal day at the 2016 Geneva Open featured three of the world’s top 20 players, and all three progressed through to the semifinals in comfortable style. In the final match of the day, Lukas Rosol came from a set down to defeat Andrey Kuznetsov 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the only last eight clash which went the distance.

Wawrinka cruises past Carreno Busta

Wawrinka continued his dominant showing in Geneva (Photo: Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open/Augusto Tomassetti

Defending French Open champion Stan Wawrinka looks to be getting into some form ahead of his title defence, as he required just under an hour to cruise past Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-1. The Swiss required even less time than his second round victory over Albert Ramos-Vinolas, in another dominating display.

It took until the third game for Carreno Busta to win a point in the match, as Wawrinka held easily before breaking to love. The set continued with both players holding easily until the Spaniard was forced to save a set point on his own serve. He got out of the eighth game well, and saved another set point, before being unable to prevent a third from being converted.

Any momentum that the world number 43 was hoping to gain was quickly put down, as he was broken in the opening game of the second set. He was struggling to get anywhere near breaking in his return games and the pressure told, as he only won 1 of the final six games, to lose 6-3, 6-1. Wawrinka was in dominant form throughout and didn’t allow his opponent to even hold a break point on his serve. This dominance on serve showed in his 67 percent success rate on his first delivery, and he was equally as convincing in his break point conversion rate, with the world number three breaking on five of his six opportunities.

Rosol edges out Kuznetsov in the only match to go three sets

Rosol reaches a semifinal for the first time since 2014 (Photo: Getty Images/Clive Brunskill)

The final match of the day featured the only quarterfinal which went the distance, as Lukas Rosol set up a last four meeting with Wawrinka by coming from a set down to beat Andrey Kuznetsov 2-6, 6-1, 6-0.

Kuznetsov started the stronger of the two and broke in the third game after missing two opportunities in his first return game. The Russian was in complete control and broke again to seal the first set 6-2. He was only serving at 48 percent, but barely looked threatened as Rosol failed to even register a break point. In the opening game of the second set, Kuznetsov had a chance to take the early advantage but missed out in what would turn out to be a key game. Out of nowhere Rosol created two break points opportunities, converting the second after missing out on the first. The Czech still wasn’t completely dominant and was forced to save three break points three games later. He just about held onto the advantage, breaking again, before saving yet another break point to send the match to a decider.

The momentum was totally with the 30-year-old, and he overwhelmed Kuznetsov to earn a third set bagel, completing the victory in the pair’s first ever meeting. He was struggling to even challenge within the first set, but Rosol won 12 of the last 13 games to earn his first semifinal on the ATP tour since Winston-Salem in 2014.

Other day five results

Cilic is playing in his first tournament since injury (Photo: Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open/Vincent Mivelaz)

The bottom half semifinal will be between two players aiming to get any sort of momentum going into the second Grand Slam of the year, as David Ferrer will meet Marin Cilic for the sixth time. Cilic is making his return to the ATP tour this week and impressively defeated Federico Delbonis in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, to clash with Ferrer, who beat compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-2 in the following match.

Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Santiago Gonzalez defeated Marin Draganja and Dominic Inglot 6-4, 6-3, to reach the semifinals in the doubles event. The final pairing to confirm their place in the semifinals were Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, as the third-seeded Americans edged out Manual Pena Lopez and Janko Tipsarevic in a match which required completion from day four.

Day six preview

Ferrer faces Cilic for the sixth time on Friday (Photo: Getty Images/Giuseppe Bellini)

It’s semifinals day in Geneva on Friday, with all the matches taking place on Court Central. Cilic and Ferrer face-off in the opening match of the day, before the number one seeds in the doubles, Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram take on Fyrstenberg and Gonzalez.

Wawrinka and Rosol then meet for the second time this year, and in a repeat of their meeting in the last sixteen stage at Geneva in 2015, with the Swiss number two edging out both wins. Rosol features in the final match of the day, as he and partner Julian Knowle clash with the all-American pairing of Querrey and Johnson.