Djere savours Schwartzman upset as qualifiers make history at Generali Open
For the first time in ATP Tour history, three players who came through qualifying have progressed to the last four.
Qualifier Laslo Djere savoured his success as he sent number two seed Diego Schwartzman packing at the Generali Open.
The tournament in Kitzbuhel is wide open with three of the four the semi-finalists being qualifiers after Argentine Schwartzman – the last seed left – went down to defeat in the last eight.
Djere triumphed 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 in one hour and 53 minutes, having lost his previous two matches against the world number 13.
“We played twice before this, so I knew it would be a really tough match with lots of running and fighting and that is what I got,” said Djere, who also saw off the highly rated Jannik Sinner in the previous round.
“I played really good from the beginning until the end. It was a good match and I am really happy that I made it through to the semi-finals.”
The semi-finals will see Djere play Yannick Hanfmann, who beat fellow German Maximilian Marterer 6-2 7-5.
Marc-Andrea Huesler followed up his shock win over top seed Fabio Fognini on Thursday with a 6-4 6-3 win over veteran Feliciano Lopez, making this the first time in ATP Tour history where three qualifiers made the last four.
Eyeing his first ATP title, Miomir Kecmanovic – now the highest-ranked player left at 47 – dug deep to beat Federico Delbonis 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 and book a meeting with Huesler on Saturday.
