Monfils, Sinner move to Sofia Open semifinal

The first one on the courts was Gael Monfils who took on a tricky opponent in Gianluca Mager. While most adapt to clay tennis, Mager possesses a very strong first serve with flat strokes that can be very tricky to handle on fast courts such as grass and hard courts. None of that was a problem for Monfils who has an immense range in covering the court.

The match was a very fast-paced one as both players looked to quickly end the points not being interested in long rallies. Mager was especially brief in his play often ending points in less than 3 rallies. Sadly he misfired most often and Monfils was able to cruise 6-2 6-2 in only 50 minutes.

Joining him in the next round will be defending champion Jannik Sinner who also won in straight sets but the Italian faced a lot more issues than Monfils. Duckworth has been playing some of the best tennis of his career in the past few weeks and that was on display early. He took a 5-2 lead against a very erratic Sinner who needed time to find his rhythm.

Once he did he was able to turn back the lead and make it 5-5. The first set was decided in the tiebreak and it was Sinner who was sharper winning it 7-4. In the 2nd set Sinner once again fell on the backfoot trailing Duckworth 0-2 early. He would battle back from 4-2 down to make it 5-4 to him before closing it out with 6-4.