After two first round wins against Chun-Hsin Tseng and Emil Ruusuvuori, Benjamin Bonzi recorded his third straight win without dropping a set in Pune (India). By dominating (7-6 [5]6-4) Serb Filip Krajinovic (30 years old, ranked 54th in the world), 26-year-old Frenchman (60) advanced to his first tournament semifinal of the year.

In a fierce battle from the back of the court, Bonzi never let go of his prey despite a poor tie-break in the first set (0-3). Solid on both sides, she managed to beat her opponent to bag the first set at the expense of great physical effort. “The plan is to hold the exchange as long as possible, he confessed on the stadium microphone, because it is difficult to make victory points on this surface. I didn’t stop fighting until the end, it was hard for both of us and I’m glad I made it through. »

In the second set, Bonzi served at 5-2 for the match before seeing his opponent break a late break and then took a 15-30 lead when the Frenchman served at 5-4. But three points full authority handed him a victory that propelled him into the last four for the third time in his career after tournaments in Marseille and Mallorca last year. “I wasn’t really relaxed before the game.he admitted. There’s always pressure when you play and you have to be ready to do better in the first half. »

For a place in the final, the first of his career, Benjamin Bonzi will face 2nd seed Botic van de Zandschulp, who beat him last year at Winston Salem (7-6, 7-6). “He’s a great player, it will be difficult, he’s the favourite, I’m an outsider. I love it here, it’s my first time playing in Pune but I’ve played in Bangalore and I love spending time in India, in a beautiful setting. »