CHENNAI, India – Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene continued his giant-slaying streak in the ATP Chennai Open on Friday, cruising into the semi-finals with a three-set win over fifth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
Bedene, ranked 156th in the world, came from behind to knock out No.36 Garcia-Lopez 2-6 6-3 6-2 after a two-hour slugfest on an outside court of the Nungambakkam tennis stadium.
The London-based Bedene, who hopes to become a British citizen this month, had stunned second seed Feliciano Lopez in the second round on Thursday.
In Saturday’s semi-finals, Bedene meets Spanish third seed Roberto Bautista-Agut who beat Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan 7-6 (9-7) 6-4.
The other semi-final will feature defending champion and world number four Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland against fourth seed David Goffin of Belgium.
Top-seeded Wawrinka, preparing to defend his Australian Open title later this month, ousted the big-serving Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-2 7-6 (7-4) in a centre court quarter-final.
Goffin, who rose from 110 to number 22 last year after battling back from a wrist injury, outplayed Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria 7-5 6-2 in an hour and 11 minutes.
