Andreas Seppi booked his place in the semifinals for a fourth time at the Aegon Open with victory over the unseeded Dudi Sela 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in Nottingham on Thursday.
Post-match reflections
The Italian, seeded seven this week, had a difficult start to his match, only winning 46 percent of points behind the second serve. “It wasn’t easy, especially in the beginning, it was difficult to find a rhythm and I made a lot of mistakes”, he said. Seppi responded in the next two sets and was very pleased to get the win. “I think I improved as the match went on and we had some good rallies in the last few games, lots of long rallies and it was good to win most of them and it was a great win for me.”
Thoughts on the courts and the crowds
The courts have been a big talking point at the Nottingham Tennis Centre this week, but the Italian was generally happy with the surface. “It’s different from the outside courts I have to say, it’s much worse on the baseline, with a lot of clay, maybe that’s why I was struggling a little bit at the beginning. But inside the court, there were good bounces so I can’t complain.”
The British crowds have been good all week and the seventh seed was full of praise for them. He said, “there was a lot of support out there, as there has been throughout the week and hopefully it will be as full tomorrow.” Seppi will play a seeded opponent for the first time in his semifinal match, against either Kevin Anderson or Steve Johnson. “It will be a difficult match, both players are serving very well, they like playing on faster services, I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully, I can recover well and be ready for tomorrow.”
2016 so far
It has not been the easiest of seasons for the Italian after struggling with injury, but he did clinch his 300th career win after defeating David Ferrer for the first time in 10 tries in the first round of Halle. “I didn’t play so many matches before the clay court season, I was injured for a month but I recovered well, so to play as many matches as possible is good for me, with three wins here it’s a real positive. I’ve already played two weeks on grass and had some good wins in Halle so I’m not surprised that I’m doing so well here. I enjoy playing on this surface and when I’m feeling good I can play some good tennis on grass.”