Winston-Salem Open: Van De Zandschulp knocks out Mpetshi Perricard in the semi-final

Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp advanced to the final of the Winston-Salem Open by winning against Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, the No 9 seed, 6-4, 7-5 at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex on Friday night.

After defeating China’s Yunchaokete Bu just a few hours earlier, “VDZ” managed to follow up with a second win on the same day to qualify for the third ATP Tour final of his career.

“It was quite a quick two hours, but I think I did well tonight,” said the 29-year-old. “You really have to hold your own service games. If you get broken once, most of the time the set is over… When trying to return, you try to adjust your position a little, to guess where he’s going to serve. Reacting is quite difficult, so you have to guess a bit.”

Trailing 3-5 in the second set, the Dutchman managed to win the last four games of the match, breaking the Frenchman twice before sealing the victory with a hold to love.

Van De Zandschulp, ranked No 92, will face Hungarian Marton Fucsovics next.

The Dutchman defeated Chinese Yunchaokete Bu (6-3, 5-7, 6-3), Argentinian Sebastian Baez, the No 10 seed (0-6, 6-1, 6-4), Italian Matteo Arnaldi, the No 6 seed (6-3, 6-3) and Australian Adam Walton (2-6, 7-5, 6-3) in the previous rounds of the Winston-Salem tournament.

Earlier in the tournament, Mpetshi Perricard, ranked No 42, beat Serb Hamad Medjedovic (7-6 (8), 6-2), No 8 seed Alexandre Muller (6-3, 6-2) and Spaniard Pedro Martinez Portero (2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3)).

Winston-Salem ATP 250, other semi-final result (Wake Forest Tennis Complex, hard, USD 798.335):

• Marton Fucsovics beat Sebastian Korda (11): W/O